Austin - Austin 3 litre
The Austin 3 litre was available in 1968, although a prototype had been shown earlier in 1967. Using the 6 cylinder BMC engine the 3 litre model had a conventional rear wheel drive transmission. The 3 litre was the replacement for the top of the range A110 Austin Westminster. Sales figures were not good, and as a result the standard version of the Austin 3 litre was withdrawn in 1969, leaving only the higher specification model. The reason for this must have partially been that it looked no different to the 1800 Series front wheel drive Austin and Morris 1800's, only just a bit larger. And remember when the 3 litre was on the market it was competing in the same luxury segment with cars such as the Rover P6 and the Jaguars which were now also part of British Leyland. The Austin 3 litre was discontinued in 1971. From the tyre point of view, what most people will not know is that when the Austin 3 litre was unveiled by B.M.C. at the Earls Court Motor Show in October 1967, it was the first production car in the world to have as standard a radial 70 series tyre fitted.
Austin 3 litre tyre size was originally quoted as radial size DR70SR14 which was an earlier way of saying radial tyre size 185R14. Blockley produce a superb steel belted high speed rated 185HR14 offering fantastic handling - guaranteed. For interest, we also produce a whitewall version of this same 185HR14 tyre size. See full details of these tyres below:
