Austin 3 Litre
1967–1971 · 9,992 built · around 300 came here
Rear-wheel drive, self-levelling Hydrolastic, and the best suspension BMC ever built — in a car almost nobody bought.
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About the Austin 3 Litre
Announced at the 1967 Motor Show and properly on sale from 1968, the 3 Litre was Austin’s attempt at an executive car. It used the seven-bearing redesign of the 2,912cc C-series — evenly spaced bores with coolant between every cylinder instead of siamesed pairs, and a new Weslake-chambered head — for 125bhp, driving the rear wheels, because the engine was too big and heavy to package transversely. Alex Moulton’s suspension is the best thing about it: Hydrolastic front and rear, interconnected, with the rear rubber springs separated from the fluid displacers and engine-driven hydraulic rams holding the ride height constant whatever the load. Moulton called the finished car “a bastard of a car” while conceding the suspension was the pinnacle of Hydrolastic development.
It failed for a stack of reasons: it looked like a stretched Landcrab because it shared the doors and glasshouse, it cost nearly half as much again, it had less interior space than the cheaper 1800 because of the transmission tunnel, the engine was heavy and thirsty at around 16 to 20 miles per gallon, and the Austin badge carried no premium in that class. 9,992 were built against a target of fifty a week. For a New Zealand parts business, though, a different number matters: roughly 300 to 350 came here, so New Zealand took around three per cent of the entire world production, and the Austin 3L Register of New Zealand tracks something like 35 to 40 running or restorable cars still in the country. Doors are shared with the 1800 and the Maxi. Almost nothing else is.
Austin 3 Litre — specification & changes within the model
- Built
- Announced 1967, on sale 1968, production ended May 1971. 9,992 built — against a target of fifty a week.
- Engine
- 2,912cc C-series six (83.4 × 88.9mm), seven main bearings, evenly spaced bores with coolant between every cylinder, Weslake combustion chambers, twin SU HS6, 8.2:1. 125bhp @ 4750rpm, 157lb ft @ 2500rpm. The same seven-bearing unit as the MGC — not the four-bearing engine of the A99, A110 and Austin-Healey 3000.
- Drive
- Rear-wheel drive, engine north-south. The odd one out in the BMC line-up, because the C-series would not package transversely.
- Gearbox
- Four-speed all-synchromesh with optional Laycock overdrive, or a three-speed Borg-Warner Model 35 automatic. Floor selector. Final drive 3.91:1.
- Brakes
- Girling, servo-assisted. 10.4in front discs, 9.0in rear drums with 2.5in shoes.
- Suspension
- Hydrolastic, independent front and rear, interconnected, with engine-driven hydraulic self-levelling holding ride height constant under load. Double wishbones at the front, semi-trailing arms at the rear.
- Steering
- Power-assisted rack and pinion, 3.94 turns lock to lock.
- Shared with the 1800
- The doors and the glasshouse, and the instrument panel. The wheelbase (115.5in against 106in), the front and rear structure, the drivetrain, engine, gearbox, brakes, steering and rear suspension are all its own.
- Late cars
- The last of the run had the MGC-specification engine.
- Here
- Imported, never assembled here. Around 300–350 came to New Zealand — about three per cent of world production. The Austin 3L Register of New Zealand tracks roughly 35–40 running or restorable cars.
- Not sold in
- Australia.