"An Austin a day is given away".

Something you don't see every day, an entry ticket for a competition to win an Austin Twelve Six "Harley" De-Luxe, dating to May 1932. The 12/6 was a small capacity, six cylinder saloon car, first introduced by Herbert Austin and Co. in 1931. The "Harley" was a six-light (ie 3 windows per side) all-steel saloon car, sold alongside a fabric bodied saloon, also powered by the 1.5 litre straight six engine. The "Harley" was dropped in 1935, replaced by the "Ascot" which had made its debut the previous year.

The competition was organised by Kensitas, a cigarette company. An Austin would be given away every day, until further notice, to whoever it was deemed had sent in the best entry on that day. Entrants had to say in exactly 20 words why they rated this firm's product highly.

"Every day, except Sunday, until further press notice, a £235 Austin Twelve-Six De Luxe Saloon will be awarded to the competitor from whom is received the best 20-word statement - best in the opinion of the judges, from the standpoint of truthfulness and advertising value - describing the quality and merits of Kensitas cigarettes."

Whereas smoking is now deemed socially unacceptable, and the obvious health risks are well known to both smoker and anyone unfortunate enough to be in the presence of a smoker, back in the 1920s and 1930s the wicked weed was a popular sight and no-one really understood the possible health risks. Mention is given though to certain benefits offered by this brand however, especially reduced irritability to the throat thanks to an "exclusive private process which includes the use of modern ultra-violet rays".

The Austin 12/6 Harley De Luxe's specification was mentioned on the back of the ticket, and the car described as "A luxuriously modern car. Sunshine roof. Selected hide upholstery. Triplex Glass. Bumpers front and rear. Four wide doors. Four wheel brakes. Finger-light steering. 13.9 Six cylinder engine. Four speed twin-top gearbox. Five wire wheels. All exterior bright parts chromium plated. List price £235". I wonder why this ticket was never filled out, and how many of these pre-war Austins were actually given away?

Updates regarding this Austin 12/6 competition.

Amazingly, a couple of people have been in touch regarding these chances to win an Austin 12/6. Firstly, Willie dropped me a line - he actually owns one of the 12/6s given away during the Kensitas promotion, and adds: "I own one of these cars which was won in 1932. It was won by a Dr Ogg of Bishopbriggs, Glasgow, and was supplied by Carlaw Cars Ltd of Glasgow. I am the car's second owner. I would be interested in any other feedback ref this competition". Amazing to think that a Doctor won one of these cars, having come up with a winning slogan advocating the benefits of smoking this brand of cigarette!!

A second nugget of information was sent over by Luuk Sikkema in The Netherlands. He stumbled across a few old sheets of newspaper from the 1930s, and on one is a mention of someone winning one of these Austins. He had a look online and found this page about the competition. He says:
"Underneath the upholstery of a seat of an organ bench, we found some interesting copies of old newspapers. In one of these, The Daily Mirror from June 14, 1932, I found a short message about the Kensitas Car-a-Day competition. On your site, you told that you didn't know how often the Car was given away. Now, it must have been at least 121 times.
On page 16, I found:
SAWYER WINS A CAR
The 121st winner of an Austin Saloon in the Kenitas Car-a-Day competition is Mr. Richard East, a foreman sawyer, of 38 West-Grove, Gipsyville, Hull."

Thanks to both Willie and Luuk for sending these snippets of information over. Are there any more Austin 12/6s out there still that were given away as prizes?

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