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Austin 3 Litre - the unknown anti-rolls rover from British Leyland

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Created on April 4, 2012

Text:

Bruno von Rotz

Photos:

Daniel Reinhard

37

Bruno von Rotz

3

Archiv

24

Daniel Reinhard

37

Bruno von Rotz

3

Archiv

24

Austin 3 Litre (1970) - you can clearly see the passenger compartment of the Austin 1800

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - the front is somewhat reminiscent of Fiat cars of the sixties

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - the driver is king

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - allows effortless longer journeys

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - the ride is characterized by effortlessness

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - the suspension is very comfortable, even on cobblestones

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - the front design differs significantly from the smaller ADO 17 type

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - the rear is well done and has beautifully shaped tail lights

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - the overall impression suffers a little from a rather square appearance

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - the large trunk had a capacity of 480 liters

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - was only delivered right-hand drive

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - the entire center section is largely identical between ADO 61 (rear) and ADO 17 (front)

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - the front had to grow in order to accommodate the in-line six-cylinder engine longitudinally

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - the rear is clearly different and more successful on the larger car

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - the rear is clearly different from the smaller 1800

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - it automatically creates a majestic driving experience

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - the car looks quite impressive

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - this car has an additional fog light and a driving lamp

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - the overall appearance suffers from the non-homogeneous combination of front, middle and rear sections

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - was primarily intended to cause a sensation in the company car business

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - twin headlights replaced the originally built square headlights in 1968

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - the long wheelbase guarantees plenty of space inside

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - the adaptation of the trunk can be described as a success

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - carried the takeover 'land lobster'

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - only 9,992 vehicles were built in total

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - the longitudinally mounted in-line six-cylinder engine has a seven-bearing crankshaft

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - the engine was also installed in the MG C with slightly more power

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - the roller speedometer didn't look like much

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - generous use of wood applications

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - thin steering wheel, good overall impression

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - the light on the blinker lever lights up with

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - the gearshift gate can also be found on the MG B or Mini

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - generous space in the rear

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - ensures good ventilation, triangular window in the rear area

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - well equipped in terms of light

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - the side indicators also differ from the smaller sister model

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - Twin headlights from 1968

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - twin center pivots were fitted from 1968

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - the name '3 Litre' was catchy, but not very prosaic

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Austin A 110 Westminster Mark II (1964) - predecessor of the 3 Litre, already with six-cylinder engine

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Austin 3 Litre (1967) - Premiere at the Earls Court London Motorshow

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Austin 3 Litre (1967) - one of the first official press photos

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Austin 3 Litre (1967) - the first series had rectangular headlights in 'television design'

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Austin 3 Litre (1967) - the center section of the Austin 1800 is clearly visible

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Austin 3 Litre (1967) - Interior of one of the first vehicles

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Austin 3 Litre (1967) - View into the engine compartment of an early vehicle

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Austin 3 Litre (1970) - twin headlights were fitted from 1968

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Austin 3 Litre (1969) - Interior, the seats were made of artificial leather, leather was not available

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Austin 3 Litre (1967) - Interior of the automatic version at the Earls Court Motor Show in London in 1967

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Austin 3 Litre (1968) - photo from a sales brochure

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Austin 3 Litre (1968) - 'comfort is a three liter word' wrote the Austin advertising department in 1969

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Austin 3 Litre (1969) - the De Luxe Saloon from 1968 - illustration from a sales brochure

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Austin 3 Litre (1968) - plenty of space in the 480 liter trunk

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Austin 3 Litre (1968) - Hydroelastic suspension with level control - from a sales brochure

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Austin 3 Litre Estate (1970) - Crayford produced a small number of estate versions

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Austin 1800 (1967) - the 1800 donated its passenger compartment for the construction of the 3 Litre

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Austin 1800 (1967) - ADO 17 was built almost 400,000 times

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Austin 1800 (1968) - was also called 'land crab'.

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Austin 1800 Mark II S (1969) - at the 1969 London Motor Show

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Austin 1800 Mark II (1969) - the 1800 had front-wheel drive and a transverse engine

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Austin 1800 Mark II (1969) - enormously long wheelbase for a short car

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Austin 1800 Mark II (1971) - by the standards of the time, the car was relatively wide

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Rover 3 Litre (1961) - the Austin decision-makers took the P5 as their benchmark when they had ADO 61 developed

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Summary

When the British Motor Company saw the opportunity in the 1960s to position a new saloon in the upper middle class against top dogs such as the Rover P5 or Humber Super Snipe, the Austin 3 Litre was developed, which shared the passenger compartment with the Austin 1800 but was technically a new design. The combination of existing and new did not really work out, and the car was not a success on the market, even though its ride comfort and spaciousness had nothing to fear from comparison. This report describes the history of this rare saloon and provides driving impressions from today, accompanied by current and historical pictures, as well as several sales brochures.

This article contains the following chapters

A long history
When accountants make design decisions
Spacious, high-quality interior
Technically up to date
Embarrassing silence at the presentation
Positive press comments too
No interest from importers
Model update as early as 1968
Drive like a king
Silent smoothness
Further information

Estimated reading time: 7min

Preview (beginning of the article)

Probably very few people will recognize the Austin 3 Litre, built from 1968 to 1971, when they see it on the road. However, the likelihood of this happening at all in our part of the world is less than winning the lottery. Officially, the car was never imported into Switzerland and it never appeared on German price lists either. The local sales department simply refused to sell this car. The history of the Austin 3 Litre, which bore the model designation ADO 61, is symptomatic of the development that the entire British automotive industry underwent in the 1960s. In the early 1960s, BMC (British Motor Company) recognized the opportunity to launch a new saloon in the three-litre class to compete with the established Rover P5, Vauxhall Cresta and Humber Super Snipe. Several models (Bentley Java, Rangoon, Bentley Bengal) were developed in cooperation with Rolls-Royce, but none of them reached market maturity, with the exception of the Vanden Plas Princess 4-litre R.

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