Austin

The Austin Maxi gave Britain its first five-door hatchback and five-speed gearbox in one 1969 package, then spent twelve years being mocked for the details while rivals copied the idea. A guide to the Maxi story, the E-series engines and that gearchange, the World Cup Rally cars, buying checks and values.

The Austin 1800 scaled Issigonis packaging up to family-Rover size, earned the Landcrab nickname for its wide stance, won Car of the Year and then astonished everyone by thriving in marathon rallies. A guide to the Austin, Morris and Wolseley versions, the S and the rally cars, buying checks and values.

The Austin Metro carried British Leyland's survival on its back in 1980 and delivered, selling past two million across Austin, MG and Rover eras, with the Group B 6R4 as its unhinged rally cousin. A guide to the Metro's generations, the MG versions, the 6R4, why survivors vanished, buying checks and values.

The Austin A30 was Longbridge's answer to the Morris Minor and its first unitary car, launched as the New Austin Seven; the improved A35 became one of the definitive small cars of the 1950s and, later, a giant-killing historic racer. A guide to both cars, the vans and Countrymen, the racing scene, and what to check before buying one.

The BMC 1100 and 1300 outsold every other car in Britain for most of a decade, wearing Austin, Morris, MG, Riley, Wolseley and Vanden Plas badges, then vanished from the roads and from memory. A guide to the ADO16 family, the badges decoded, the Hydrolastic ride, what survives, buying checks and values.

The Austin A40 badge covered twenty years of small Austins, the export-drive Devon, the rounded Somerset, the Jensen-bodied Sports and the Farina that quietly invented the modern hatchback shape. A guide to the whole family, buying checks and values.

The Austin Allegro spent decades as the punchline of British motoring, the round car with the square steering wheel. The real story is stranger and kinder, taking in a lost wedge design, Hydragas suspension, the Vanden Plas 1500 and a survivor scene that adores it. A guide to the range, the reputation, buying checks and values.

The Austin Ten was Longbridge's family car for the 1930s and quietly out-sold everything else Austin made, running from the 1932 Ten-Four through the Lichfield, Sherborne and Cambridge to the wartime Tilly and the post-war GS1. A guide to the variants, the war years, buying checks and values.

Austin built cars at Longbridge for over eight decades, from the Seven that motorised middle-class Britain to the A35, the Farina Cambridges and the Allegro. A guide to the classic Austins we cover, what became of the company, and what its survivors are like to own today.

The Austin Seven was the small, cheap car that put middle-class Britain on four wheels, built from 1922 to 1939 in every form from the open Chummy to the Ruby saloon and the sporting Ulster. A guide to the many Sevens, the model that seeded BMW and Lotus, and what to look for when buying one.

The Princess was Harris Mann's other wedge, a front-drive Hydragas-suspended family car that BL forgot to give a hatchback. A guide to the 18-22 launch confusion, the Princess 2, the Ambassador handover, what to look for, and what they're worth.