the car retained the 2199cc 4-cylinder engine first seen officially in 1945 on the austin 16. performance was adequate by the standards of the time, but the car was not particularly quiet, and an "autocar" magazine road test in 1950 reported a "small vibration at about 40 m.p.h. on the overrun" on their test car. austin had given a lead after the war in equipping their cars with interior heaters at no extra cost, and the hereford came fitted with "the latest smiths fresh-air installation" as standard equipment. the road tester found the heater, like the engine and indeed the windscreen wipers, "rather noisy in operation", however.