The small British sedan thread got me thinking about some of the cars we used to see up here in Canada (we got a lot more than the US did).
One of the misfires of the directing minds behind BMC was what they considered to be just the thing that American would want - the Austin A90 Atlantic, aka 'The Triclops. All of the manufacturers in Britain were under orders to sell abroad or they wouldn't be allocated the materials to build anything. They produced it from 1949 to 1952 as their 'assault on the colonies' flagship, and it sunk without a trace. It was powered by a big heavy thumping 2660 cc 4 cylinder engine that later found it's way in slightly modified form, into the Austin Healey 100.
I never owned an A90 but I did drive one once and it perfectly nailed their perceived idea of American cars at the time - large heavy ill handling and braking. They were also one of the ugliest cars that came out of Britain in the early post war years - compare a Jag XK 120 to this (second pic gives an idea of handling):
The one good thing they managed with it was to run it at speed for day after day (done in the US target market) taking several long distance speed records - it got 63 records and ran in the 1949 Indianapolis Production Car Endurance event, covering 11,750 miles in 7 days of continuous running.
They had some luxury features - an electrically operated convertible top, for instance (interestingly operated by a Lucas starter motor located in the boot hooked to a mechanical linkage). But they never took off in North America - only 348 were sold in the US out of almost 8,000 produced and as there was zero rust prevention most have long succumbed to tin worm.
Hopefully some enthusiasts will find any survivor worthy of preservation, if only as one of the automotive industry's more glaring mis-steps.
