Austin A35
Reviewed by Unique Cars and Parts
Our Rating: 2
Introduction
The
Austin A30 was replaced in
1956 by the much improved Austin A35. The big news lay under the hood, the new model borrowing the larger A-Series 948cc engine as found in the
Morris Minor 1000.
This new powerplant gave the little Austin good performance for its class and even led to some Saloon Car Racing successes during the mid-50's. The A35 featured a larger front grille (with painted slats instead of chrome in a horse-shoe shape), a larger rear window and flashing turn signal indicators to replace the semaphore trafficators used on the
A30.
Mechanically the car was fairly standard, with independent/coil springs front
suspension, a beam axle and semi-elliptic leaf springs at the rear, and
worm type steering.
While the new engine gave the A35 better performance, in fact much of the improved performance was the result of different gearbox ratios, which were better spaced and gave a max speed in third of 60 mph (97 km/h) against about 45 mph (72 km/h) for the A30.
Available in both 2 and 4 door saloon body styres, the A35 proved to be popular with the car buying public, although it soon dated after the launch of the new
Mini range in
1959. Production of the A35 lasted in Saloon form until
1959 when the model was replaced by the
Farina styled Austin A40. The estate version continued until
1962 and the van until
1968.
The Austin A35 Contryman
Following on from the successful A30 commercial variants, Countryman estate (wagon) and Van versions of the new A35 appeared alongside the new A35 Saloon models at the new cars launch in
1956. As before, the Countryman body was really little more than a civilised version of the Van. The Countryman had proper sliding rear windows and a folding rear bench seat for rear passengers as well as car type trim and brightwork.
From
1962 the Countryman was dropped from the range , however the van version carried on in production now using the 1098cc engine found in the A40 and Morris 1000, production of the Van carried on until
1968.