The Austin A40 Sports - Jensen bodied 1200cc sportscar from the early 1950s

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This page: Austin's A40 Sports model from 1950-1953

Based on the running gear of the contemporary A40 Devon, the Austin Motor Company took the radical step of commissioning the rakish A40 Sports model. Production began in 1950 and continued into 1953.

It was a few years after the war that Austin brought out fresh models, the immediate post-war production largely being based around pre-war designs.

The A40 Devon was Austin's medium sized car, and smallest of the 'county' models. The tiny-car motorist was capably looked after by the Austin A30 when it came out in 1951, the Devon, which came out a few years earlier, slotting in above it.

This 4 door model sold well for Austin in the rush to raise overseas cash during the postwar years, the 2 door Dorset not selling in anything like as great a number (and was dropped in 1951). Commercial variants were also produced, their creation made easier thanks to the saloon car's separate chassis.

It was the flexibility offered by having a separate chassis car (later also enjoyed by Triumph with their Herald/Spitfire/GT6 etc) that enabled Austin to consider producing their Sports model. Austin were not renowned for daring design (although the A90 Atlantic of 1948 was certainly a brave offering, aimed mainly at US buyers), so the Sports was always going to be a slightly risky model to produce and sell to a conservative British public. The name 'Sports' perhaps over-egged things slightly, as the car was more of a tourer than a lightning fast sporting machine. The running gear was virtually identical to the humble Devon and Dorset, pepped up somewhat thanks to a brace of carburettors bolted to the all-iron 1200cc engine. Power for this 4 seater soft top was a heady 46bhp at 5000 rpm

The aluminium coachwork was actually built by Jensen Motors, one of several bodyshells that Jensen would handle for other manufacturers (for example the early 'cow horn' Volvo P1800s had Jensen-built bodies). Between 1950 and 1953, just over 4000 examples of the A40 Sports were built, production being phased out as the curvy A40 Somerset saloon took over from the Devon in mainstream production at Longbridge.

Changes during production were fairly minimal. The GD2 came out in November 1950, with a floor change gearbox and dash lifted straight from the Devon of the day (the GS2). The part-hydraulic braking system was also used straight from the earlier Devons. In August '51 the GD3 Sports was introduced, now featuring fully hydraulic brakes (as on the updated GS3 Devon) and column gearchange. The dash also received a re-work at this time.

Survivors are not exactly plentiful, those that have made it into the 21st century are mostly cossetted examples, brought out for the classic car events and evening saunters to the pub. The supply of unrestored cars is minimal, and any project car should be checked for completeness of trim and coachwork. Thankfully the humble underpinnings, shared with the A40 saloons, means that running gear parts can usually be tracked down.
Links to other A40 Sports-related things on oldclassiccar:
Parts noticeboard for the A40 Sports
A40 Sports handbook (PDF, 2.83Mb)
A40 Sports sales catalogue
Adam, who runs the A40 Devon & Counties discussion forum, has scanned a supplementary handbook, detailing the differences between the Devon and the Sports model. This PDF document (you'll need Adobe Reader to view it) can be found here. It is a Large file mind (2.83Mb), so is only really suitable for users on a broadband, rather than dial-up connection, unless you're very patient and don't mind having your connection tied up!

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