The American Austin was a United States version of the Austin Sevenautomobile manufactured by the American Austin Car Company from 1930 to 1937. The automobile was designed in the hopes of creating a market for small-car enthusiasts in the United States. The cars had four-cylinder engines and looked something like small Chevrolets with Stutz and Marmon_style horizontal hood louvres. The coupe was billed as a sedan, and sold for $445. At that price, it should have appealed to more buyers than it did. But the Great Depression soon set in, and with it came the appeal of secondhand cars sold at a lower price. Somewhat more than 8000 cars were sold during the company's first year of sales, but sales fell off to the point that production was suspended from 1924 to 1937. That year the car reappeared, redesigned (by Alexis de Sakhnoffski) and rechristened the American Bantam.
American Bantam's 1938 model is famous for being the inspiration for Donald Duck's car.
American Bantam also pioneered the design for the first jeep, called the BRC (Bantam Reconnaissance Car) 40, and built 1,500 of these after discontinuing the manufacture of passenger vehicles.
Some of the motors and chasisses were imported from the UK Austin; the bodies were made at the AmericanAustin factories in Detroit, Michigan and Butler, Pennsylvania.
By 1870 Austin's 1,615 fl residents composed 36 percent of the 4,428 inhabitants.
These new dams brought great benefits to Austin: cheap hydroelectric power, the end of flooding, a plentiful supply of water without which the city's later growth would have been unlikely, and recreation on the Highland Lakes that enhanced Austin's appeal as a place to live.
Austin Community College, a two-year institution, was founded.
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