See Austin A40 for other (previous) Austin A40 models. The Austin A40 Farina is a small, economy car introduced by Austin in saloon (1958) and A40 Countryman (1959) estate versions. It has a two-box body configuration. It was badged, like many before it, as an A40, consistent with Austin's naming scheme at the time, based on the approximate engine output in horsepower; and to distinguish it from other A40 models, it was also given a suffix name – this one being the Farina, reflecting the all-new design by Italian Battista Farina's Pinin Farina Turin studio. Austin had been merged into the British Motor Corporation (BMC) in 1952 and – unusually for BMC at the time – the A40 Farina was sold only as an Austin and not rebadged for sale under any other BMC brands. The Farina was the first Austin A40 not named after a county of England, and the last in the Austin A40 line. The 1959 A40 Countryman version stands out by its layout as a small estate car with an upward (and downward) opening tailgate, and is therefore viewed as one of the earliest examples of a volume production hatchback. Background Like its predecessors, the A40 Countryman version was again combining many of the virtues of a compact saloon and estate car in one body — but unlike the 1954 A30 Countryman, (a sub ) estate car version of the 1951 Austin A30), and its 1956 A35 Countryman evolution – the all new A40 Countryman had a split lifting and lowering tailgate instead of the sideways opening rear doors, seen from the 1948 A40 Countryman through the A35. This different feature made the A40 Farina derived Countryman an early example of what later became popular as a hatchback. Furthermore, Pinin Farina's body design offered more shoulder and headroom for the rear passengers, through the use of angular instead of curved lines of the roof and upper rear body, while as a two-seater (with the rear seat folded), it provided an exceptionally large luggage space. The original saloon version luggage boot has a tail board that swings down, while the rear window remains fixed, and the space behind the rear seat is usually covered by a vinyl tonneau cover. This can be removed, and the rear seats folded to permit the whole of the back of the car to be used for luggage, though the loading floor