A7s in today's Telegraph...

[Mike Costigan]

I agree, Nick, and I did finish my comments with, I hope, a suitable statement.

However it does irk me that the myth that there was any connection between the Seven and early Datsuns continues to be trotted out.

[Nick Salmon]

Sorry if my comment implied a criticism of anyone posting on here. That was not intended. It was more a general observation of 'our' reactions to pieces such as that in the Telegraph, where accuracy may not 100% but the overall benefit of the article to the Austin Seven movement is very positive.

 Mike - It has always been my understanding that whilst Datsun did not build the Seven under licence and had no formal arrangement with Austin, they did send their representatives over here to take a jolly good look at the design, and took copious notes. Would it be accurate to say that the first Datsun was 'influenced' by the design of the Austin Seven?

[Mike Costigan]

No Nick, the first Datsun in 1929 was a 500cc air-cooled twin:


  Datsun.jpg (Size: 40.73 KB / Downloads: 308)

The confusion seems to have started in the mid-1930s when Austin was selling short-chassis Ruby-style cars in Japan to meet the kei-car requirements, and the then-current Datsun looked remarkably similar. That was because the Japanese importer of Austin chassis was also a coachbuilder that built the bodies for both cars - not surprisingly they were almost identical!

Austin acquired an example of the Datsun which for many years survived at the Beaulieu Museum (I think it may now be at Gaydon) and the story was that the acquisition was because of concern over patent infringement - it seems more likely that the concern was over the rumour that the car was to be sold for well under £100, but it turned out to be much the same price as the Seven anyway.

I think the story of Datsun representatives coming to Longbridge probably dates from the late 1940s when Austin helped Datsun to set up their post-war assembly lines to build the A40 Somerset and later versions:


  Datsun 2.jpg (Size: 25.36 KB / Downloads: 303)

[Ruairidh Dunford]

Nick - more reading, and links, here: https://www.austinsevenfriends.co.uk/for...ght=datsun

[andrew34ruby]

Yes the Austin seven gave the possibility of travel to the masses, but it was the railways seventy years earlier that had made a huge difference.

[Bob Culver]

A reasonable article as such go. A point seldom made but which explains the demand for many cheaper cars was the initial lack of a vast second hand market as today where a good 10, 20 or even 60 year old car is quite practicable and dirt cheap.
I think very few waged tradesmen class or lesser would have bought a new Seven or any car in the 1920s. The Model T was cheaper but the L20 tax pa formidable.
Decades ago I grilled a pom immigrant club member about UK wages. He said that as a plumber in the 1930s earned L3.17.6 with some OT. L5 was teacher territory. The middle class persons depicted in Tony Gs posters were the buyers new.
Second hand Sevens later were certainly the territory of the workers. I dont know how Sevens were affected but during and after the Depression the likes of 1920s Jowetts were very cheap in UK. Anthony Bird described cars for way less than L5 (the equiv of which can buy a very practical car now.)

[Nick Salmon]

Thanks for the info regarding Datsun. Very interesting.

[Bob Culver]

I have also mused about the expression box saloon. I always presumed it to differentitae the RP style from Ruby as both available in same year. Have always thought it inappropraitee for swb cars which are less cube boxy.
The RP etc designation was not in common use. My father owned his car for 30 years and had never heard of an RP.