Austin 10 Cambridge

Of all the pre-war Austins, the Ten is one of the most budget-friendly both to buy and to run. Of these it’s the Cambridge which makes an ideal stepping stone for the pre-war novice.

- Paul Wager

You buy a car but you invest inan Austin,” was the advertisingslogan in the era when the Austin 10 was in production and it neatly sums up the original appeal of these cars: conservative in design to the point of being old-fashioned, they were nevertheless built to a high quality and were a step up from contemporary Fords.

Like the Seven, the 10 was a massmarket product, but was a larger car altogether, reflecting the changing tastes as the 1930s dawned and car ownership became more affordable. It was positioned between the Seven and the newly updated and more expensive 12.

At its launch in 1932, the Austin 10 was an all-new design although its appearance was very much of the old school with separate wings and headlights. Despite this, the body construction was modern for the time, with the fabric construction of older models replaced by a pressed-steel bodyshell.

With an 1125cc engine producing 22bhp, the Ten could manage a top speed of 50 mph and was a strong seller for Austin. Face-lifted in 1934, the Ten received a new sloping radiator with a body-coloured surround but the big news came in 1937 when the car was modernised with a new bodyshell and given the name Cambridge.

It’s the Cambridge which represents the subject of this guide as it’s a much more modern proposition for the novice getting a first taste of pre-war classics. With its improved brakes and a more modern clutch, the Cambridge feels more familiar to drive and is a less intimidating prospect in modern traffic than the earlier Tens.

The Cambridge would be produced until the outbreak of WW2, with production carrying on in surprisingly high numbers throughout the war and its eventual replacement would be the A40 Devon and Dorset launched in 1947, the first all new post-war design from Austin.