The Austin J40 pedal car is a miniature motoring marvel.
Originally built by Welsh miners who had developed lung disease as a result of a lifetime working in the coal mines, the impact made by these diminutive Austins is way beyond anything imagined when the hand-built prototype of Austin Chairman Leonard Lord’s ‘little idea’ first appeared in 1946.
The fact that over 70 years after the first production example rolled off the South Wales factory line – in 1949 – the Austin J40 still appeals today is testament to the incredible job that J40 designer Jim Blaikie did in his team’s secret Longbridge workshop.
In recent years, interest in the Austin J40 has been boosted by the annual Settrington Cup race for the cars at the Goodwood Revival.
Austin Pedal Cars is committed to producing and supplying new parts for the classic J40, restoring and selling J40s around the world, and will launch a stunning J40 Continuation Car at the 2023 Goodwood Revival.
The Continuation model is a modern-day interpretation of the original pedal car, designed, and built using the latest engineering technology, whilst staying faithful to the look of the classic original. Austin Pedal Cars commissioned David Whyley to write this comprehensive history book on their behalf, uncovering new information, stories and images to tell the full story of this important Austin car.
This lavishly produced book, featuring painstaking research and numerous previously unpublished archive photographs and documents, provides the definitive story of Austin’s diminutive Pathfinder, based on the 1930s Austin racers, and its successor the J40, intertwined with their impact on the lives of those who have built and pedalled the cars over the years.
For British car industry enthusiasts, the J40 story is an unknown chapter of British car making history. This £89 book from Porter Press uncovers how many heroes of the industry learnt their trade at the J40 factory, before making a name for themselves in years to come.
