1950 Austin A40 Sports

The aluminium body is by Jensen and mounted to an Austin Devon chassis. Fun as these soft-tops are ‘Sports’ is maybe pushing the idea a little too far. Still, with the help of twin carbs and larger inlet valves the Devon engine’s power was raised from 40bhp to 46bhp, so a genuine 80mph was possible. Also, to lend credibility one was driven to victory in the 1956 RAC Rally Ladies’ Cup, beating various Fords and an MGA in the process. Column-shift gearchange from 1952 is less desirable and despite low build numbers there are still quite a few about.

Information from Octane Magazine.