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Austin Cambridge A55 MkII (ADO9), A60 (ADO38)
The Austin A55 MkII Cambridge went on sale in January 1959 as the second of the ADO9 'Farina Austins'. Although Pinin Farina had produced the body design, it was Dick Burzi who 'anglicised' it for BMC. The ADO9 was based on the floorpan of the A40/A50/A55, and the 1498cc B-series engine had first appeared on the 1954 A50 Cambridge. In 1960 the 4-door estate car was launched as the Austin Cambridge Countryman. In 1961 All models were upgraded with the 1622cc B-series engine for the ADO 38 facelift, creating the Austin A60 Cambridge.

 

a_A55 Cambridge MkII Countryman head
a_A60 Cambridge 1963 head
Austin A60 Cambridge 1963

 Austin A55 MkII Cambridge 1959 front
BMC first introduced the motoring public to the "big Farina family" in 1958 with the Wolseley 15/60, a year later BMC announced less luxurious Austin and Morris versions to cater for the masses. The A55 Cambridge Mk II featured the new Farina saloon body and was powered by the trusty 1489cc B-series used in the Mk I but now with a SU carburettor, previously only found on rival Nuffield cars

 Austin A55 MkII Cambridge 1959 rear
Austin A55 Mk2: ADO 9 or Austin Drawing office 9 was the nearest to production car to Farina's design proposal. This was the only car in this family to be built exclusively at Longbridge. As launched in 1959, the A55 Mk II had a rather severe, square, mesh front grille, very prominent fins and a body style which left the wheels well tucked in and looking a touch too small for the rest of the machine.

 Austin A55 MkII Cambridge Countryman front
Austin A55 Mk II Cambridge Countryman. The A%% MkII Countryman was not launched until 1960, and was on sale for only about one year before the A60 Countryman superseded it.
Austin A55 MkII Cambridge Countryman rear
Austin A55 Cambridge MkII Countryman, the "Estate" version having lift-up rear window and drop-down bootlid

 Austin A60 Cambridge 1963 front
In the BMC mass facelift session of autumn 1961, the A55 Mk II was transmuted into the A60, and although the same basic bodyshell and mechanical layout was retained, it became a much better car in all aspects. Compared with the A55 Mk II, the A60 had a longer wheelbase, wider tracks, better roadholding, modified styling, a bigger engine and more performance - plus, for the first time, the option of Borg-Warner Type 35 automatic transmission. It was quite a transformation.

 Austin A60 Cambridge 1963 rear
Visually, the A60 was recognized by a new and rather wider-mouthed front grille, while at the rear the fins had been reduced in size and aggressiveness, with new tail-lamp clusters being specified, plus different duo-tone colour schemes to extra order. Mechanically, the big change was a corporate switch from 1,489cc to 1,622cc B-Series engine, which boosted the power and torque, with overall gearing raised to suit. Also, the car's wheelbase had been increased by 1.1 inches.

 Austin A60 Cambridge Countryman front
Austin A60 Countryman. Only the panel work forward of the windscreen was changed for the A60 Countryman, introducved 1961.

 Austin A60 Cambridge Countryman rear
l_Austin A55 MkII Cambridge lamp
Austin A55 MkII Cambridge. This is upright fin of the A55 MkII, the A60 fin was rounded off and got a different taillight.

 l_Austin A60 Cambridge lampr
Austin A60 Cambridge - the later rounded taillights for the A60 Cambridge.

 s_Austin A55 MkII Cambridge Countryman side
Austin A55 Mk II Cambridge Countryman. When the A60 Cambridge was introduced, the Countryman retained all the panel work aft of the front wings and the rear lights from the A55 MkII Countryman.

 s_Austin A55 MkII Cambridge side
Austin A55 MkII Cambridge. Pininfarina was engaged to design the new BMC 'B' range of saloons. The A55 MkII is the BMC interpretation of the maestro's original, and versions with MG, Morris, Riley and Wolseley badges were also sold.

 t_Austin A55 MkII Cambridge tail
Austin A55 Mk II Cambridge. The vertical fins were shared with the Morris Oxford Series V, but the lights were different.
w_Austin A55 MkII Cambridge wheel
Austin A55 MkII Cambridge - rear wheel

 Austin A55 Cambridge
Austin A55 Cambridge
 		Austin A40 (ADO 8), A40 Mk II (ADO 44)
Austin A40 (ADO 8), A40 Mk II (ADO 44)
 		'Big Farinas', the BMC ADO 10 (and later ADO 37)
'Big Farinas', the BMC ADO 10 (and later ADO 37)
Austin 1800, 2200 (ADO17)
Austin 1800, 2200 (ADO17)
 		Austin 1100, 1300
Austin 1100, 1300
ADO 9 IndexBritish CarsSimon Cars
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key text:  This is the page introducing Simons love of cars from the website  RedSimon which is a series of photo albums of Simon GP Geoghegan.
The names of Pinin, Farina, and Pininfarina are also considered
There are also notes on Pininfarina
as well as the car maker
and links tothat car maker
see also my Picasa car albums
withe even more on RedSimon
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And also to Wikipedia
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