J.A. Charter, formerly with Fairbanks, Morse & Company, designed this engine and was granted three patents covering the design- 928,939 and 938,123 of 1909 and 954,780 of 1910. Charter had originally been associated with his father at Charter Gas Engine Company. Austin engines used a heavy-duty side shaft design with built-in magneto ignition. Austin had an engine that was designed primarily for road rollers and could be adapted to stationary power uses. It was one of the very few opposed engines built with a side shaft valve gear for each cylinder. Low tension ignition was featured with a separate magneto for each cylinder. Since the majority of these engines were used in road rollers rather than for stationary applications it is unlikely that any still exist.