ROY HALFORD
HOME OF JOY III AND SUPPLIER OF REPRODUCTION PARTS
TO RESTORERS OF THE AUSTIN "PATHFINDER SPECIAL"

Short history of Austin Pedal Cars
In early 1946, Leonard Lord, the chairman of the Austin Motor company conceived the idea of producing an Austin child's pedal car to be produced in a new factory that would provide useful employment to disabled miners in South Wales. The idea was passed to a selected development team.  They researched the project and built the prototypes in secret  at Longbridge, Birmingham

Joy III, which was based upon the Austin 7 "Twin Cam" racer was designed by Jim Blaikie and at built at Longbridge.   It was the only prototype for the Pathfinder Specials that were later built in quantity at the new factory at Bargoed in South Wales.       Joy III looks initially the same as a production Pathfinder, but on closer inspection it was found that almost every detail is slightly but significantly different.

Joy IV which was based upon the full size Austin A40 Devon was also designed by Jim Blaikie.  It was the prototype for the better known J40 roadster. 

Austin equipped a new factory at Bargoed and retrained a skilled workforce of disabled miners.   Production started in 1949, initially with the Pathfinder Special, which was replaced by the J40 Roadster during the following year. 

We unashamedly promote David Whyley's book as a more in depth account of the fascinating history of "Austin Pedal Cars" and the individual people who turned Leonard Lord's idea into the reality of the wonderful children's cars that have provided so much enjoyment for over 70 years.

History of our Company
" For over 38 years Roy Halford was the main supplier of reproduction parts for the Austin pedal cars.  The interest began when Roy, then an aircraft technician in the Royal Air Force, purchased first a J40 then later a Pathfinder Special to restore for his children.  Finding that many of the parts needed to bring them back to their former glory were unobtainable, and unable to find any acceptable alternatives, he organized tooling to manufacture batches of the required parts.  As early as 1983 in the first club journal, Roy was advertising the surplus parts to help others with their restorations"

"Roy's attention to detail has been true to the spirit of the Austin factory, with high quality parts made as near as possible to the original specification.  As Roy explained.."

"Experience gained from my involvement in the restoration of Morgan sports cars had convinced me that when organizing the manufacture of parts, originality and quality should not be compromised"   


A major re-organization took place during the early 1990s, Lin Halford became responsible for customer orders and day to day company administration, with Roy Halford managing development and manufacture.

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT APRIL 2021
   The time is right to ensure a bright future for J40 spares whilst the full size classics cars in my garage beckon! 

It took a long time to find the right person to take over the company, as it was vital to ensure continuous manufacturing, quality production, good customer service and an understanding of the importance of the J40.

I can now announce that my J40 business has been sold to Burlen Ltd, Salisbury.       
They are immediately ready to take J40 parts orders and are best placed to develop the business for another generation.

HOWEVER OUR SERVICE SUPPLYING PARTS AND ADVICE TO PATHFINDER OWNERS/RESTORERS IS UNCHANGED