Where Are All the Sevens?

[Colin Morgan]

Hi,

Given 10,000 or so Sevens appear to have survived, where are they all?  A large town like Warrington has a population of about 200,000 - this is about 1/300th of the population of the UK.  Therefore, if Sevens are distributed evenly, there ought be about 30 Austin Sevens in Warrington.  

I know of about ten Sevens on this side of town - someone has three - all on the road, there are two in bits in local garages, there are two others owned individually that are very occasionally seen out and about, there is mine, and there is Box Saloon hidden away somewhere not far away that I have heard about but have never seen.  Therefore, it is credible that there might be 30 across Warrington?  

Perhaps areas like East Anglia, though more sparsely populated, have more cars stashed away in garages or in barns?  Certainly, more cars in need of restoration seem to appear for sale in this area than anywhere else?  

One thing seems certain - wherever you are in the UK - you are not far from a Seven.  So why don't we see more out on the road?

Colin

[Reckless Rat]

Tjhat's a bit like saying "I never see a policeman walking past our house" - they are there (although to be fair not much foot patrolling is done these days) but if they're not going past your window when you look out you won"t see them.

Actually that's a lot. I was an active member of the Sheffield Group PWA7C when I was still in the UK and at most meeting we only had a handful of cars, and Sheffield is a lot bigger than Warrington, population wise. Some members even came from as far away as North Yorkshire... just.
Now, on the other hand, France is a big place. Same population as the UK but over a much wider area. Unless I'm mistaken though I only know of two A7 Saloons that are original and working, mine and Bob's. There are a number of "specials / Ulster reps" mainly in and around the centre and possibly a Nippy somewhere on the Côte d'Azur and an AP Tourer in Clermont Ferrand. Unless anyone knows any more?

[Howard Wright]

Hi Colin

We did about 2000 miles in the special last year.  Assuming an average of 30mph means 66 hours of motoring or 5 days (12 hour daylight use?).  I guess you would be pretty lucky to be around for any of those 5 days to catch sight of us.

And I think many use their Sevens much less.  Five hundred miles a year is probably closer to an average so you’d have to be around on the one and a half days that Mr or Mrs or Ms Average uses their car  .

Cheers

Howard

[Colin Morgan]

There are about 33 million cars in the UK that do an average of 7400 miles per year, which is a total of 240 billion miles. From the DVLA data, there are about 1600 pre-war Sevens registered for the road, perhaps doing an average of about 500 miles per year. This is 800,000 miles. So for every road-mile a Seven does, modern cars do 300,000 miles - so no wonder we don't see them very often.

[Mike Costigan]

I suspect that the DVLA figure of 1,600 Sevens on the road is not very accurate. They are probably only accounting for cars registered as Make: Austin and Model: Seven. I know of several Sevens that are recorded as Make: Austin Seven or Austin 7, and others that have no Model identity other than body style - I doubt if either option is included in that 1,600 figure. 

I would guess a more likely figure is in the region of 3,000 'on the road'. Not that that makes any real difference to the Seven's impact on Colin's calculations!

[Chris KC]

I guess most owners these days tend to use back roads as much as possible, so one tends not to see them on an "A to B" in the 'modern'. There are certainly a few cars around where I live, though on balance they probably spend a lot more time being tinkered with than being driven.

[Colin Morgan]

One of the other differences is perhaps that they spend most of their time inside, often locked away out of sight, rather than being left outside? There is one just down the road in a garage that I have never seen out - if I hadn't spoken with the owner, who saw my car on the drive and came over for a chat, I wouldn't know it was there. Hopefully, it will take to the road again one day - the intent is there - much has been done, but a bit more is needed.

[Frank Stoll]

Hello
I have often asked myself how many Austin Sevens still exist today, and I can confirm the above reasons or findings for Germany as well (smaller numbers overall, of course). Over and over again there have been and still are moments of surprise. Once I was driving through the Eifel when I suddenly had to give way to a Ruby when turning onto a main road. Thanks to the regionally specific number plates commonly used in Germany, the vehicle had to come from the region. It was not a vehicle known to the Austin Seven Club and I never saw it again. I recently received a picture of a car dealer from southern Germany who had three wonderful cars in his shop window. Not active in the club... That makes four vehicles that are not registered in the A7 Club, which can present around 60 vehicles.
My vehicle is also mainly driven at quiet times, on remote roads and at weekends and holidays, which reduces its presence in everyday traffic even further. I also have no idea how a relatively accurate figure could be determined. What exactly is an Austin Seven? Just the chassis? Only the chassis with the engine? Chassis, engine and body? This alone should be a problem for registration.

[Chris KC]

(Those pdf's are most helpful Frank - thank you).

[Colin Morgan]

Of course, there is a lot of luck involved what you see? As suggested above, cars could be around for years and you never see them? Occasionally people talking to me say they have seen another black car like mine about - but the descriptions are vague - it might even be mine, or could be a Ford Pop. Hard evidence is hard to come by.

There was a black Austin 8 saloon - of all things - around here for a while a few years back - and I saw it three times in three weeks in three different locations - including a local town I go to only once a year (for the VW's MOT) - but never again.