Strip the Austin 25/30 back to its specification sheet and the character is already there: 4-cylinder 5,182cc T-head, 23 bhp @900 rpm. British Motor Corporation built from 1906 to 1907, when a car was a rich man's adventure and every maker was a workshop.
The background
The Austin 25-30 is a motor car. It was the first automobile produced by newly established British car manufacturer Austin. In the last week of April 1906 a large body of motorists travelled to Longbridge "where snow lay full three inches deep on the ground and was still falling fast" to see the new Austin car, a conventional four-cylinder model with chain drive. The engine's tax horsepower rating would have been 32 hp (24 kW). It was also available in a cheaper version as a 15/20 hp complete at £500 (chassis, £425) as well as the 25/30 hp for £650 (chassis, £550).
The sole concessionaire for sale of the cars was Mr Harvey du Cros junior (1872–1928). Between April and October 1906 only 23 cars, mostly 25-30s were sold. This was minute when compared with the output of the whole British motor industry. In the following 12 months to October 1907 147 cars of all models were sold. The 25-30 was manufactured for more than a year with a total of 65 cars produced. It was replaced in 1907 by the Austin 40 hp which used a bored-out 4+3⁄4 in × 5 in (120 mm × 130 mm) and simplified 25-30 engine.
The engineering
Power comes from 4-cylinder 5,182cc T-head; 23 bhp @900 rpm is the published figure. It shifts through a 4-speed gearbox. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Where it sits
Its family tree is legible: its successor was the Austin 40 hp; assembly was at Longbridge plant, Birmingham, United Kingdom. Its British Motor Corporation stablemates include the Austin 10 and the Austin 12.
What it costs now
There is no federal ownership record for the Austin 25/30 — it predates the complaint database or was never sold in the United States — so MotorJury publishes no running-cost figure for it. For a car of this age the price is set by the collector market and the condition of the individual example, not by a formula.