1907 Austin Model LX-T 60HP Seven-Passenger
Among the rarest survivors of early American luxury automobile manufacturing, the Austin Model LX-T represents the upper limit of what the Grand Rapids firm produced before abandoning the four-cylinder configuration after 1908.
Founded by James E. Austin and his son Walter, the Austin Automobile Company prioritized scale and quality over output, building approximately 25 to 35 cars a year and targeting an affluent clientele that reportedly included William Randolph Hearst.
The seven-passenger touring body is carried on a long-wheelbase chassis featuring one of Austin’s signature engineering decisions: a double cantilever rear spring arrangement that positions the rear axle behind the passenger compartment, effectively extending the wheelbase and helping reduce road shock over poor surfaces. Front suspension uses 3/4-elliptic leaf springs; the rear employs full-elliptic springs.
Powering the LX-T is a 522 ci F-head four-cylinder rated at 60 horsepower (tax rating), connected to a four-speed manual transmission.
The company built approximately 575 automobiles between 1903 and 1920, of which only a handful are known to survive today, making surviving four-cylinder Austins exceptionally rare.
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