At this point, no one is reproducing American Austin interior handles.  Like many door handles and window cranks utilized on 1930’s vehicles, these were made of fairly poor materials.  Fairly often, these handles are broken where they interface with the latches or regulators and they are usually fairly pitted.  If you are looking for handles for your cars, there seem to be at least two other makes which utilized the same handles as the American Austins.

First, a few months ago, Lynn introduced us to the 1931 DeVaux which featured the same handles as the Austin.  Interestingly, the DeVaux featured some styling treatments from Alexis de Sakhnoffsky, the same man responsible for much of the American Austin and Bantam looks.  These may not be a good source for parts as only 4,808 vehicles were produced and the survival rate does not seem to be very good.

1931 DeVaux Model 675

If you blow up the photo below, you can see the handles which are the subject of this blog post.

Note the Austin handle and crank on the passenger side door.

To learn more about De Vaux, click here.  To learn more about the car in the above photos click here.

Another vehicle that featured these same handles is the 1930 Peerless.  The very same car that was considered to rival Packards and Pierce Arrows utilized the same window cranks as the diminutive American Austins.

1930 Peerless Model A Standard Eight

Here is a photo of the handles in the opulent and luxurious interior of the Peerless.

Those window cranks and handles look familiar, don’t you think?

The Peerless Body Tag.

To learn more about Peerless automobiles click here.  To learn more about the Peerless above, click here for the craiglist ad or call Ed at (602) 421-5663  if the ad has expired.

Drew best described the Peerless as the missing link identifying that these handles may have been a common part for the Hayes Body Corporation who built the bodies for all three cars.  So, keep your eyes open at the swap meets.  These handles are out there, albeit probably in limited quantities.