Welcome to Thursday Trivia where we offer up a historical automotive trivia question and you try and solve it before seeing the answer after the jump. It’s like a history test, with cars!
This week’s question: Who was the unique group of workers employed by Austin to build the J40 and Pathfinder?
If you think you know the answer, make the jump and see if you are correct.
The 1947 A40 was Austin’s first post-war saloon and offered modest proportions and styling that looked like a hold-over from before the war. Still, the cars proved successful, selling almost half a million and serving as the vanguard for exports to America before being replaced by the Somerset in 1952. The Devon/Dorest also served as the base for the first post-war sporting Austin, a collaboration with Jensen called the A40 Sports.
Another production collaboration resulting in a small, sporty model related to the A40 – specifically the two-door Dorset – was that for which a purpose-built factory was constructed in Bargoed, South Wales. There was built the Junior Forty and the racer-inspired Pathfinder pedal cars. The program was initiated in cooperation with the U.K. government to provide rehabilitation and gainful employment for a specific group of South Wales workers.
From Austin Works:
Austin pedal cars were made in England by Austin Motor Company Limited. Available models were the Junior Forty (J40) and the Pathfinder. The J40 Roadster was based on the 1948 A40 Devon and Dorset. The Pathfinder Special was based on the Jameison OHV 750 Austin Seven racing car of the late 1930’s.
From the sales brochure for the Austin J40 Pedal Car:
“Austin J40 cars are made in a specially constructed factory at Bargoed in South Wales. Here, in good conditions with the guidance of an experienced rehabilitation officer and under the supervision of a doctor, disabled Welsh miners are able to find a new interest in life and do a job of work that is both useful and congenial. There are employment facilities at this factory for 250 men.”
The pedal car factory opened on July 5, 1949 and was called the Austin Junior Car Factory. It was actually paid for by Government funds and it was run on a not-for-profit basis and purely for the employment of the disabled coal miners. The factory had a floor area of 24,500 square feet and was tooled up by the Sheet Metal Planning Department.
The intended market for the pedal cars was America, however they were eventually sold all over the world. An estimated 32,000 were built until production ended in 1971 when the factory was turned over to making A-series engines. It eventually shuttered for good in late 1999. Today J40 and Pathfinder kiddie cars are valued as collectables and as an important piece of British history, having helped to keep South Wales on the job.
Image: Austin Works
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