Firstly a big thanks to George, regular correspondent with updates on his own A90 restoration saga, who sent in this pair of great photographs, taken at Petty France in Ledbury.
The two photographs are packed with period detail.
Fixed-head A90s such as this incorporated a number of neat features, not usually to be found on British cars of the era. The rear window is a perfect example of this. While at first glance it appears to be a simple, fixed, three-piece affair, in fact the centre pane of glass can be wound down by the driver into the bootlid area, for improved ventilation. With Austin's marketing department eyeing up overseas sales, tricks such as this were hoped to appeal to gadget-conscious buyers, in the USA in particular.
Just under 8000 examples in all were built.
The top image shows the rear end of the fixed-head A90 Atlantic coupe in Ledbury. It's interesting, for a UK car, that this particular example is left hand drive (LHD). Atlantics were meant to sell in large numbers overseas but this didn't happen, so perhaps this one, originally destined for export, never made it as far as the docks?
It's also worth noting just how quiet the roads were back then, merely a lone motorcycle & sidecar combination parked a little further up the road. No double yellow lines, speed humps, or other 'traffic calming' measures to jarr the eye either - how times have changed.
Photograph number 2 is perhaps even more evocative, a real snapshot of life in the late 1950s, frozen in time forever. I wonder how this road looks now? The LHD A90 is parked in the same position. The cyclist zooming by is probably slightly
bemused by being caught in the photographer's lens, as is the portly chap strolling along on the
distant pavement. In this direction too the road is fairly clear, bar a couple of 1930s-era motorcars
parked a little way in the distance. Is KUJ 781 still around? somehow I doubt it, but stranger things have happened.
A two-tone Austin Atlantic coupe.
A mere nine years (!) after publishing George's photos on the site, another period shot of an Austin Atlantic has turned up. This old photo belongs to Len Fuller, who posted it onto the OCC Facebook page and agreed to it being shared here too. As in George's photos, a fixed-head coupe rather than drophead-coupe version is shown. The location this time is Southsea, near Portsmouth on the south coast.
What makes this example a little more unusual than most, is that it's been finished in a two-tone paint scheme (or three-tone, if you include the vinyl roof). This 1951 car is registered FRV 798, a series local to the area (ie Portsmouth). Coincidentally, this frontal view of an A90 also has a gent cycling past in it, just going out of sight to the left. And, like the car shown above, it too has an AA badge affixed to the grille. Thanks for the photo Len!
(Please click the thumbnail to view full-size image.)
Austin's Atlantic model was only produced for a short time, between 1949 and 1952. The convertible (photos of which may be seen on this page) made its debut first, with the coupe joining the fun in 1950.
Preserved Austins at the NEC classic car show.
The short video below features a variety of vintage and classic Austins, seen at the 2021 NEC show. Highlights were the A90 drophead and the A70 cabriolet, plus honourable mentions to the 101 van and the various Austin 7s on display.
