The Austin Motor Company was founded in Birmingham by Herbert Austin, the former manager of the Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Company in 1905.


1935 Austin Ascot

Around the 1920s the company produced the Austin 7, an inexpensive, small and simple car and one of the earliest to be directed at a mass market. At one point it was being built under licence by the fledgeling BMW.

In 1952 Austin merged with the Nuffield Organisation (parent company of Morris) to form the British Motor Corporation. The name continued in use, as in the following examples:

There were also Austin-Healey sports cars.

The last Austin was built in 1987.

''List of automobiles