Spanish bodied A7 1931?

[Tony Griffiths]

Is this a Spanish body on a 1931 car? Racked-backscreen and the hood sitting quite differently to the standard car of that year.

[stuartu]

Do you think this has a truncated saloon scuttle?

Regards,

Stuart

[Mike Costigan]

I don't think so, Stuart; it looks like the waist moulding stops short of the dashboard line. I think it's just a standard AG tourer with modified screen and hood.

[Ivor Hawkins]

Though it appears to have AF wings, unless I am sadly mistaken.

[Mike Costigan]

I'm pretty sure the wings for the AF and AG were the same.

[Tony Griffiths]

The 1930s AF body (long bonnet, short scuttle, coupled brakes) was aluminium but in early 1931 changed to steel - the wings remaining the same. Apart from a magnet, three easily observed changes confirm a steel-bodied version: a pressing in the scuttle that continues the edge-hinge-of-the-bonnet line, a dashboard with a separate instrument panel and, in place of a screw-on Austin winged badge, one pressed into the radiator shell - like this car: https://www.robinlawton.com/cars/1931-au...eat-tourer. Was the AG the late 1931 short-wheelbase model that retained the small Chummy-style doors - but fitted the contemporary, much larger wings, like this: https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C890491 ?

[Mike Costigan]

The AG was introduced in January 1931 and ran through to the end of 1932; short chassis, steel body, slightly longer scuttle and more upright petrol tank than the AF (in other words the tourer version of the RM saloon). The AG retained the 1930-style wings through to around September 1931, and then (like the RM) changed to the 1932-style. This demonstrates the problem with using the body code as the model identifier; often there are clear visual changes (like the change in wing style) which are not reflected in the body code, so we really should supplement some codes with, say, early and late prefixes...

[Terrytuned]

Alloy bodied 1931 AF registered in March 31. Terry.

[Tony Griffiths]

The AG was introduced in January 1931 and ran through to the end of 1932; short chassis, steel body, slightly longer scuttle and more upright petrol tank than the AF (in other words the tourer version of the RM saloon). The AG retained the 1930-style wings through to around September 1931, and then (like the RM) changed to the 1932-style. This demonstrates the problem with using the body code as the model identifier; often there are clear visual changes (like the change in wing style) which are not reflected in the body code, so we really should supplement some codes with, say, early and late prefixes...

Thanks, Mike, that's very clear. So, the early AG becomes an AG/E and late one an AG/L. Or, for the hyper-anoraks, early is AG/E-AsFWs30 and late AG/L-AsFWs32. Now, let's code those models previously-thought-to-be-an-Opal-but-are-not and the two-seaters which really are...

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...thanks for the picture of the '31; lovely. Now, if we are confused about a few simple changes, imagine Mini aficionados fifty years from now trying to sort out what's what with multi-million option combinations offered on today's models.