Motor Car History
 Veteran - Vintage - Classic - Modern
Motor car history
Understanding the Automobile
Toggle Navigation
  • Home
  • Makes and models
  • Motor car History
  • Innovations
  • Trivia
  • Help Guide
  • links
  • You are here:  
  • Motor Car
  • Motor car History
  • Britain
  • Astra (1954-1959)

Astra car history

Middlesex UK from 1954 to 1959

 
Manufacturer Astra Car Company
Production 1954–59
Class Microcar
Body style 2-door saloon or estate
Engine 322 cc Anzani two-cylinder
Transmission 3-speed manual
Wheelbase 74 in (1,880 mm)
Length 114 in (2,896 mm)
Width 53 in (1,346 mm)

 

The Astra was an English car built by a subsidiary of British Anzani of Hampton Hill, Middlesex from 1954 to 1959 At GBP348 it claimed to be the smallest and cheapest four-wheeler on the British market. The car had originally been built by JARC motors and sold as the Little Horse.

It featured a rear-mounted 322 cc air-cooled, twin-cylinder engine mounted under the floor driving the rear wheels through a three-speed motorcycle-type gearbox. The steel channel section chassis had all-round independent suspension with swing axles at the rear. Most cars had two seater estate car bodies, but some four-seat saloons were also made. The bodies were made of aluminium. The car could also be bought in kit form. It was claimed to be able to reach 55 mph (89 km/h) and return 60 mpg-imp (4.7 L/100 km; 50 mpg-US).

After production ceased, some coupés were made by Gill cars and sold as the Getabout.The rights were also bought by Harold Lightburn of Camden, Adelaide, Australia who fitted a new glass-fibre estate body and sold the car as the Zeta between 1963 and 1966.

 

Britain
Return
Aston Martin History 103 / 1027 Astral (1923-1924)
Send
Print

Related

motor car on you tube

Categories
Britain
British Automotive 1950s | Micro car | Middlesex UK

British automotive manufacturer locations

  • Aberdeen
  • Bedford UK
  • Ayrshire
  • Belfast
  • Berkshire
  • Birmingham
  • Blackpool
  • Bournemouth
  • Bristol UK
  • Buckinghamshire
  • Cambridge
  • Cheshire
  • Cornwall
  • Coventry
  • Derby
  • Devon
  • Dorset
  • Dumfries
  • Edinburgh
  • Essex
  • Glasgow
  • Hampshire
  • Hertfordshire
  • Isle of Man
  • Kent
  • Lancashire
  • Lands End
  • Leicester
  • Leighton Buzzard
  • Lincolnshire
  • Liverpool
  • London
  • Manchester
  • Middlesex
  • Newcastle-on-Tyne
  • Norfolk
  • Northamptonshire
  • Nottingham
  • Oxfordshire
  • Peterborough
  • Rotherham
  • Sheffield
  • Somerset
  • Southampton
  • Southport
  • Staffordshire
  • Stockport
  • Suffolk
  • Surrey
  • Sussex
  • Warwickshire
  • Westminister
  • Wiltshire
  • Worcestershire
  • Yorkshire

Read more in this section

Thames (1906-1911)
Thames (1906-1911)
Read more...
AVC (1985-1990)
AVC (1985-1990)
Read more...
Dial Plastics (1969-1971)
Dial Plastics (1969-1971)
Read more...

  • You are here:  
  • Motor Car
  • Motor car History
  • Britain

Back to Top

© 2021 Motor Car History

X

Right Click

No right click