Austin Austin A40 Farina History

Introduced in 1958, the A40 Farina took mechanicals from the A35 and wrapped them in a crisp, modern 'two-box' body styled by Pininfarina — Battista 'Pinin' Farina and his son Sergio attended the UK launch. About 342,162 were built through 1967, and unusually for BMC it was sold only as an Austin, never badge-engineered.

Its lasting significance is the 1959 Countryman estate, whose horizontally split tailgate (a top-hinged upper door over a drop-down lower section) made it one of the earliest volume cars to anticipate the modern hatchback layout.