it was based on the popular little a30, called the "new austin seven",
that was produced from 1951 - 1956 & was a great competitor to the morris minor.
the a30 had an 803cc a-series motor & was the first austin to have a monocoque body.
this fully stressed chassis-less body was designed
by t.k. garrett, an ex aeronautical engineer.
the monocoque body made it lighter & stiffer than most vehicles of it's time.
by the end of it's production 223,264 a30s had been built - in 2 & 4-door saloon, van or "countryman" estate van models.
the a35 was launched at earls court motor show on the 2nd october 1956
& was largely an evolved version of the A30 with quite a few changes made.
mechanically the a-series engine was enlarged to 948cc & 34bhp,
shell bearings replaced the white metal bearings,
a full flow oil filter replaced the bypass filter,
a more precise gear lever was installed
& the back axle ratio was raised to cope with the added power.
cosmetically the rear window was made larger & wrap-around,
modern flashing indicators on front & rear replaced the b-pillar wing type flashers,
the front grille changed from being fully chromed to painted with a chrome surround,
the speedo was recalibrated from 70 to 80mph,
the seats newly designed & the roof guttering was changed
to run down past the windscreen on each side rather than across the top of it.
although the a35 was produced in a variety of guises
- 2 & 4 door saloons, pickups, vans & countryman estate vans
- the cars themselves were discontinued in the spring of 1959
(the countrymans ended in '62 & the vans in '68).
the vans had 948cc motors until 1962 when they were given a 1098cc motor
& an 848cc version was available alongside it from 1964 onwards.
overall 354,607 a35s were built under varying designations :-
a2s5 - 2 door saloon, as5 - 4 door saloon - it appears there were 209,333 saloons made with less than 70,000 being the 4 door version
av5 - pre 1962 5cwt van
ak5 - pickup (only 475 during '56 & '57)
av6 - mk 2 vans (1962)
av8 - post '62 mk3 1098cc 6cwt vans + 848cc vans
ap5 - '56 - '62 countryman vans
ap6 - final countryman vans from march - september 1962
... a little A35 history ...
austin a35
please note - all images on this page are not my own & have been gathered from
the internet to illustrate a small part of the austin history both in the uk & abroad.
“the most wasted of all days is one without laughter.”
e.e. cummings