Friends' Gallery Picture of the Month - March 2022

[Mike Costigan]

This one is a bit of a puzzle; Jeff Taylor found it on the internet and posted it to the Gallery about four years ago. He conjectured that it showed an assembly line in Australia, but that doesn't seem right to me. It's certainly not the assembly line at Longbridge, but surely Australian assembly would have the bodies being fitted to a completely assembled chassis? And didn't most Australian chummy bodies have a swage line running back from the windscreen pillars?
  14_30_12_17_12_24_54 copy.jpg (Size: 157.73 KB / Downloads: 425)

[Ivor Hawkins]

Could it be the Dixi factory?

[Colin Morgan]

This is a picture from the Holden factory at Woodville:    



There is an article on Holden's history here:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-08/h...ng/9015562


And more photos here:

https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resou...77/52/1-31

[Mike Costigan]

Thanks for those links, Colin. It would appear that the Holden Woodville factory was a much bigger establishment than that shown in the Austin picture, so at least we can probably eliminate Holden from the puzzle.

[squeak]

I can't recall a 2 piece windscreen on an Australian built seven,  and have associated the swaged waistline as a feature of the Holden built Austin bodies but not other local coachbuilders. 
Happy to be shown otherwise.

[Colin Morgan]

The clothing is different too? Collar and tie in the Seven picture. Overalls and open shirts in Australia, even then.

[Ian Wegg]

It's possibly the American Austin Car Company in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The same image appears in the book America's Assembly Line by David Nye.

[Mike Costigan]

The American Austin Company was not established until June 1929, and the Butler factory did not commence production until May 21st 1930, so there's no American connection to this photo. However, if it dates from 1926 rather than the 1927-28 period I ha assumed, then that would be before Englebach's reorganisation of the Longbridge production line, so just maybe this is in the Birmingham factory; it seems strange to me that they would be assembling the body onto a chassis without engine or axles ...

[Bob Culver]

Colin is correct. The ball and chain descendants never dressed like that. Oz is not freezing UK. It is remarkabe how can often place old photos from the dress.

[Robert Foreman]

If you look closely Mike you will see they are on trestles and not fitted to a chassis. Like other photos I've seen the body is fitted out and dropped onto a running chassis.