One of the biggest English car manufacturers, created in 1905 by Herbert Austin in Longbridge. Its history is marked by one runabout model – the Seven – produced without interruption for eighteen years, from 1922 to 1939. Although with different proportions in production volumes, Seven could be said to have played a similar role to the Ford T in promoting mass motorization (15 million cars produced of the American model, against 300,000 of the English model). In 1927, 70% of runabouts circulating in Great Britain were Sevens, and out of the 38,000 cars produced by Austin that year, 20,000 were Sevens. After the Second World War, the company merged with Nuffield, and in 1952 the B.M.C. – British Motor Corporation – was founded.
