1930 Austin 12/4 Tourer In many ways a scaled-down version of the 20, the Austin 12, launched in 1921, retained that car’s massive construction and superb strength and build quality, while also being more affordable and economical for the average buyer.

This, coupled with the launch of the even smaller Seven, helped save the Austin company from the troubles caused by its earlier one-model policy, and set the stage for the company to become one of the most successful in British motoring history.

The 12/4 became famous in its own lifetime for its strength and extremely impressive reliability, and remained in production right up until 1939, latterly mainly in taxi form.

The vintage-era cars are the most sought-after today, with cars from 1926 onwards having the larger and more powerful 1861cc side-valve four-cylinder engine.

A variety of bodies were available, with perhaps the most popular today being the open touring versions, the Clifton and the Open Road.This 1930 Open Road prese...