At the end of the 1940s, there was a strong possibility of the Austin and Morris groups joining forces, which would have brought the Morris Minor into the family fold to slot in below the Austin Devon. But personalities and circumstances got in the way of any such marriage and so thoughts at Longbridge turned to creating a rival of their own. In 1949, the green light was given to the development of a new baby Austin to compete head-on with the Minor. It was launched in 1951, but the longawaited Austin-Morris merger finally came to fruition in 1952 to create BMC, just as A30 production was getting into full swing. The Austin’s OHV A-series engine was then transplanted into the Minor, but the two cars continued their intense rivalry.
Design faults such as a cantilevered bootlid that covered your luggage with water when opened in the rain were ironed out when the Austin A30
