Austin A16 saloon

The Austin 16HP was the first 'new' car to be produced by the Austin Motor Company following the Second World War and had a brand new 4 cylinder 2199cc, overhead-valve engine & 4-speed manual gearbox.

It used the pre-war body from the Austin 12. The engine produced 67 bhp at 3800 rpm producing a maximum quoted speed of 75 mph. The car featured a built-in hydraulic jacking system operated from a pump located under the bonnet.

Herbert Austin (1866–1941), former manager of the Wolseley Tool & Motor Car Company founded The Austin Motor Company in 1905, at Longbridge. In 1952 Austin merged with the Nuffield Organisation (parent company of Morris) to form the British Motor Corporation. In 1966, BMC & Pressed Steel merged with Jaguar & became British Motor Holdings. In 1968, BMH merged with Leyland Motors & Austin became a part of British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC). In 1982, most of the car division was rebranded as the Austin Rover Group, with Austin acting as the "budget" and mainstream brand to Rover's more luxurious models. The MG badge was revived for sporty versions of the Austin models. In 1986 Austin Rover's holding company BL plc became Rover Group plc and was privatised by selling it to British Aerospace (BAe). The rights to the Austin name passed to British Aerospace & then to BMW when each bought the Rover Group. The rights were then sold to MG Rover, created when BMW sold the business. Following MG Rover's collapse & sale, Nanjing Automobile Group acquired the Austin name.