Andy,
A lovely looking car, designed and built for export to the US, hence the name. It also broke a few records. Austin came up with some good models in the late 40s & 50s, and developed them futher for a short while. (the Sheerline & Princess were literal non-starters for the most part). Cars like the Devon, Somerset ( 2dr Dorset), then the Cambridge and Westminster, as well as the little A30, later A35. At that time you'd never have thought it would die - but like much of UK industry it failed to maintain modernisation and the independence of colonies in Africa and Asia in the early 60s meant those markets looked further afield and by 1970 the Japs were moving into them in a big way, as the Germans had from the early 60s. All that said, the best car in Africa was the Peugot, esp 404.