the rear of a rather thick windscreen header rail. The fixed head, five window, sports saloon (hardtop), could be had with its roof painted or covered in fabric. This gave it the popular "drophead", or "cabriolet", look; all the style with no leaks. As its final trick, the centre section of the three piece, wrap-around, rear window could be lowered into the boot (trunk), for added ventilation by a remote winder above the front windscreen. Few people in the car's native Britain would have ever seen anything like the futuristically-styled Atlantic before, and certainly not from a conservative mainstream manufacturer like Austin. The radical Atlantic suffered, however, from the dramatically new Jaguar XK120, also launched at the 1948 Motor Show. Exports Out of a total production run of 7,981, 3,597 were exported, 350 of which were to the US. This low level of sales in the US was despite a huge focus by Austin, including a successful attempt at breaking 63 stock car records at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in April 1949 by Alan Hess, Charles Goodacre and Dennis Buckley) and a US$1000 price reduction in 1949. The four-cylinder 2.7-litre engine could not compare in power output to native V8 engines — although, for its time, performance was strong. A few A90 engines were also used in civilian versions of the Austin Champ. The car did see more success in former British Colonies, Europe, Scandinavia and Australasia. Performance The Atlantic was powered by an engine based on the proven Austin A70 OHV engine design, but increased to . The large four-cylinder produced @ 4000rpm and later saw service in the Austin-Healey 100. A convertible tested by the British magazine The Motor in 1948 had a top speed of and could accelerate from 0- in 16.6 seconds. A fuel consumption of was recorded. The test car, which had the optional hydraulically powered top and window operation (£40 extra), cost £824, including taxes. The handling was average, but adequate for the era, with coil independent suspension at the front and leaf springs at the rear, employing lever arm shock absorbers or 'dampers' which, when worn, resulted in a characteristic 'wave motion' over undulating surfaces. The underpinnings were somewhat less exotic than the all-enveloping bodywork: the chassis and running gear were based on that of the well-proven 1949 Austin A70 Hampshire saloon (not to be confused with the smaller entry level A40 Devon).