Austin A40 Farina Saloon in Ocean Blue (1:43 scale)
- Austin regularly created revolutionary designs but rarely capitalized on their vision. The 1958 A40 Farina is an example of that phenomenon, as although it was mechanically conventional, it pre-dated the trend for monobox hatchback superminis by twenty-five years, but was rarely marketed on the versatility it offered. The A40 was joined in 1962 by the mechanically mould breaking front-wheel-drive Austin 1100, which, despite being almost monobox in outline, was not a hatchback. Austin did not re-enter the supermini hatchback market until the Metro was launched in 1980, by which time the Fiat 127, Renault 5 & others had gained a foothold in that market segment.