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AUSTIN
18-22 Austin
1800 1800HL 2200HL The white car pictured here is a basic Austin 1800; note
the lack of chrome embellishments such as wheel arch extensions, window
surrounds and wheel trims. Also, the rear C-post was body colour and not
covered in vinyl, and there wasn’t a coachline around the car. Two Austin’s together, these are High Line versions and the
difference between basic (as above) and High Line are obvious. All the chrome
trim embellishments are present on these versions as are vinyl C-posts and
coachlines.
This rear view shows perfectly the vinyl C-posts and
chrome embellishments. You can see the badge bar running the width of the
boot, this is the only external way of telling what size engine was under the
bonnet and what trim level it was, not that it was needed as one could see at
a glance it was an HL. All versions
looked the same from the rear apart from Austin or Morris written on the
nearside of the badge bar with the engine and specification on the offside. Here we have a good idea of the amount of space in a
wedge - the interior dimensions are roughly the same as a modern Rover 75 but
the wedge seems much larger, just look at the amount of front and rear
legroom. Note that vinyl seat coverings were the order of the day, even in
this HL (High Line, not Hard Luck!) model, and the ‘basic’ 1800 made do with
even more lacklustre seats. Note also the ‘futuristic’ looking silver finish
dashboard and the blanking plate for the radio, which was an extra cost
option. The interior was available in three colours, mink (below), blue or
brown. Austin versions of the wedge are now
extremely rare, only a handful are known to still exist. The
18-22 Series was renamed Leyland Princess in September 1975, and the Austin,
Morris and Wolseley versions were discontinued. |
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