On 2013-02-26, dsi1 wrote:
I don't know of anybody in America that thought these cars were very
good. Perhaps it's different in the UK. No matter, the idea changed
everything.

It was a brilliant car from a purely technical standpoint but suffered
mightily from poor excecution, spotty build quality, and nonexistent
rustproofing. (In other words, a pretty typical BMC/British Leyland
product. :-) The Austin America was heavily advertised in the U.S. as
having a fully-automatic 4-speed transmission available, which was unheard
of in a small import at the time. Even full-size Chevys were still using a
2-speed automatic back then. Unfortunately those transmissions, sharing
the engine oil, frequently would not even make it through the warranty
period without grenading, particulary given the typical American driver's
penchant for skipping oil changes..

The transverse engine idea was actually introduced with the original Mini
in 1959. The Austin America shared the same basic drivetrain but with a
larger displacement engine, which is another reason so few are left --
many were tossed aside after the power unit was plucked to install in
a Mini.

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Roger Blake (Change "invalid" to "com" for email. Google Groups killfiled.)

"Climate policy has almost nothing to do anymore with environmental
protection... the next world climate summit in Cancun is actually
an economy summit during which the distribution of the world's
resources will be negotiated." -- Ottmar Edenhofer, IPCC
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