Former Editor Ray Dowding was delighted to see the A40 Farina join the Vanguards range and, when we discovered it was the first car he owned to actually have a heater, we invited him to share some of his thoughts and experiences.

The Austin A40 Farina has been top of collectors' wish lists for many years. In 2009 we will make those wishes come true by introducing an Austin A40 Farina Mm I into the ‘Vanguards' series. The Farina A40, although quite a modest beast, is responsible for significant milestones in automotive history as we will discover in our pre-release feature on this trend setting saloon/hatchback small car.
Although there had previously been an A40 Cambridge within the Austin County range the A40 Farina was actually planned as a replacement for the trusty A35 saloon, a vehicle that continued in production alongside the A40 for almost two years after the launch of the Farina. So I suppose one could say, whilst the Farina didn't initially replace the A35 it owed much to it.
In the mid 1950s BMC (British Motor Corporation) wanted to introduce a new, more futuristic style for their vehicles. The fact that BMC now owned Wolseley, Morris, MG, Riley and Austin led to a group policy decision to share body-shells across the various marques, a procedure later to be known as badge engineering. The BMC board wanted to move away from the rounded, traditional body styles of Austin and Morris and decided to visit Turin in Italy, seen by many as the centre of vehicle design. Here they discovered Battista Pininfarina, one of the worlds most outstanding automobile designers and immediately commissioned him to create a new look ‘baby' Austin, to be followed by even more advanced designs.

The first project entrusted to the Italian designer was for a replacement to the venerable A35, now beginning to show its age. This new design would bear the drawing office code name of ADO 8. Pininfarina's mock up arrived at Austin's Longbridge works in 1956 and almost immediately it was nicknamed the Farina, a name it was later officially given, as it suggested Italian flare. However, in Sweden it was to be known ‘Futura', as in Swedish ‘farina' is a type of brown sugar. 

A Pioneering Design
The new car was a two-door design and very angular in shape with a drop down rear panel that gave access to the rear seat storage area. The Farina pioneered the innovative, modern ‘two-box' design, rather than the traditional ‘three-box' (bonnet, saloon and boot) layout with a new design that anticipated the move towards the modern hatchback. This same, very successful, design concept would be produced from the drawing boards of all vehicle manufacturers in
later years.
Mechanically the car was very conventional inheriting the majority of components, including the 948cc engine, from the A35. Other items from the A35 included the suspension, steering and braking system, a system that caused me more than one anxious moment including coming down a steep hill at low speed! The A40 was a bit like a ‘sheep in wolf's clothing' as its unique modern two-door body design disguised the fact that it was driven by outdated technology. A bit like putting a Concorde body on a World War 2 Dakota! The early A40's fascia/dashboard was very austere and used the same basic instrumentation as fitted to the A35. Very fragile flick-up switches stuck out from the fascia above a parcel shelf that stretched the width of the car. No audio speakers because there was no radio - this was an optional extra - although it did have flashing indicators as opposed to semaphore arms.
Production of the A40 Farina commenced in June 1958 and by December of the same year 400 units per week were rolling off the production lines. 1958 was also the year when parking meters were introduced from America and with them the much-disliked Parking Warden/Meter Maid. Double white lines were also introduced this year to make three lane carriageways much safer. In those days the lanes were referred to as ‘Left Side, Right Side and Suicide' due to the amount of head-on crashes in the centre lane. Britain's first Motorway (the Preston-by-pass) also opened in 1958, heralding a revolution in driving styles and car designs. So, all in all, quite an automobile milestone year.
When launched the basic model, including Purchase Tax was £676-7s-0d. Design Magazine enthused it was ‘the best looking product from the BMC stable'. For an extra twenty pounds you could have a heater fitted and for an extra thirteen pounds plus a few shillings you could have a passenger sun visor, opening rear side windows (push-out hinged at the front) and over-riders intended to prevent other vehicle bumpers riding up and damaging your bodywork. However, it was not unusual to find vehicles locked together as the other cars bumper, positioned higher up, rode up over the bumper rider, dropped down and locked in position. It was commonplace for cars fitted with over-riders to loose their front or rear bumper as quite often the other driver was unaware that his/her car was mated to another and drove off. On other occasions cars would remain stuck together and the help of passers-by was sought to lift one of the cars - all good fun!

A couple of design issues!

A year later the very first modern hatchback appeared with the launch of the A40 Countryman. The rear window and drop-down lid were replaced by a 2-piece horizontally split tailgate. With the rear seat folding forward the Countryman was Britain's first small hatchback saloon car! However, it was not uncommon after the vehicle had reached 3 years of age for the coach hinges holding the rear window to break, causing the window to drop down when the tailgate was opened - something I experienced on more than one occasion.
In 1959, Austin concluded a licence arrangement with Innocenti of Milan, Italy for the construction of the A40 Farina (both in saloon and Countryman forms). Introduced at the Turin Motor Show over 67,000 were produced. Initially they assembled ‘knock-down' kits but converted to full manufacture later on when the A40 Saloon was sold as the A40 Berlina and the Countryman as the A40 Combinata. However, the Combinata varied from the Countryman in that it had a single piece tail-gate, hinged at the roof. The A40 was also assembled from CKD kits in many other countries including Mexico, South Africa and Australia. 

Mark II upgrades

In 1961 the A40 was upgraded to Mk II status. The wheelbase had increased by 4 inches, creating extra leg room. Gone was the ‘crinkly chip' radiator grille, replaced by a full length grille with horizontal bars featuring an improved Austin badge. The side windows that previously worked on counter balanced weights within the door were replaced by proper winding windows. Having been used to the simple pull down/push up type the new winders seemed to take an age to open and close! The fascia was also upgraded from the basic A35 type to something much more attractive. The engine, although still 948cc, was tweaked to achieve an extra 3 bhp and the Zenith carburettor was replaced by an SU made in Erdington. In the following year the A40 was further improved by upgrading the engine to 1098cc, known as the Mk II 1098cc. As there were no external differences between the Mk II and Mk II 1098cc those of us who drove the Mk II version pretended we had the larger engine; in those days an extra 11 bhp was something to brag about as with the wind behind you and going down hill you could achieve a top speed of 79mph!
An A40 Farina entered into the 1961 Mobil Economy Run achieved 49.58mpg, not something that I achieved when I was a young lad trying to impress the girls. But with petrol around 4s 10d a gallon who cared!
Little known is that Austin produced a Van version of the A40 Farina in both Mk I and Mk II configurations. Only approximately 600 were produced, of which the majority were exported to Finland and Portugal so is probably the reason few people remember it. Basically, they took a standard, fully trimmed A40 Countryman and replaced the rear side windows with a steel panel.

Approaching the end of production
Sadly, by 1963 the A40 Farina was on borrowed time. Its stablemate, the badge engineered front-wheel drive Mini, was eating into its market and, with the brand new 1100 series heading towards the number one position in the sales charts, orders for the A40 Farina nosedived. However, with grit and determination it battled on for a further 4 years until November 1967 when production was halted, just before BMP entered the Leyland era.
Although it is difficult to believe, the A40 Farina found fame in both rallying and saloon circuit racing. Pat Moss and co-driver Ann Wisdom won the Coupe des Dames two years running in their A40 Farina XOE 778. This car has been rediscovered, fully restored and regularly takes part in Historic Rallying. On the racing circuit Dr George Sheppard, driving a much modified A40, was a regular winner and overall under-1000cc champion in 1960. 

A milestone in automotive design
Although the A40 Farina was born during the ‘badge engineered' years the A40 remained an Austin-only product (albeit under BMC), making it the last true Austin and the last rear drive Austin to be produced. The A40 Farina was a complete departure from all previous Austin designs and a milestone in automotive design deserving its place in the ‘Vanguards' Hall of Fame.

‘VANGUARDS' A40 FARINAS
The Vanguards A40 Farina will be known by the casting identity of VA112. We can look forward to the release of a Standard Mk I saloon, a Police Panda and Rally version during the second half of 2009 as follows.

VA112 003 A40 Countryman in Sutherland Green with Black Roof
The A40 with registration XOB 557 is one of a number used by the Public Relations Department of Austin for both brochure and leaflet production and press reviews. Scheduled release date is November 2009. 

VA112 001 City of Birmingham Police
The City of Birmingham Police had a policy of supporting the local community by procuring all their requirements from local companies. So it's not surprising to find that Longbridge-made vehicles formed the backbone of their vehicle fleet. The Austin A40 Farinas were used as beat Panda Cars and painted in the standard pale blue and white livery. Scheduled release date
October 2009.

VA112 000 1959 Monte Carlo Rally - Winner Ladies Prize
Pat Moss and co-driver Ann Wisdom won the Coupe des Dames two years running in their A40 Farina XOE 778 which they named ‘Zoe'. This car has been rediscovered, fully restored and regularly takes part in Historic Rallying. Scheduled release date December 2009.