AUSTIN UND WILLYS AUS BERLIN
This unique and interesting publication compiled information that has never before been written in book form.: the strange alliance between the firms of Crossley, Willys, and Overland who, in turn, built (amongst other cars), the Austin 7 in Germany from 1932.
The British firm of Crossley is well known. During WW I the Crossley works at Heaton Chapel near Stockport built aeroplanes. After the war, this large factory was lying idle. For peacetime production, Crossley Motors were planning to manufacture cars there, which should lie clearly in size and price under their present models. As a solution, a collaboration with Willys Overland from the USA was envisaged.
The first cars came over from Willys in Canada as kits to be built up in the UK and fitted with British coachbuilt bodies. Later it was decided to set up similar factories in Holland and Germany. In 1927 the company Willys Overland Crossley GmbH was registered and factory buildings near the airfield at Adlershof were purchased. In the summer of 1928 the 1000th Willys Knight and Overland Crossley left the production line.
The famous Austin 7 had been built under licence in a number of countries; in Germany it was manufactured by Dixi and then BMW-Dixi. From 1927 to 1932 some 25,000 Austin 7 cars were built in Germany. Later, the Nippy and the Speedy sold well in Germany. However, the author has deduced from what little paperwork that still exists, that between 1932 and 1939 only 700 Austins were built at Adlershof, well below figures for the other makes in the conglomerate.
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