11-05-2019, 07:22 PM
At the risk of adding fuel to the flames rather than pouring oil on troubled waters, I really feel that, for the benefit of those those who have never driven a Seven and/or who are contemplating owning one, I should defend Austin Seven handling and indeed general road behaviour.
I should say at once that I have no experience of the short chassis cars, having only driven one once and then not for any distance. The three cars that I have owned in my motoring career have all be long chassis cars, two RP saloons and a special.
I am perhaps lucky insofar as my present RP saloon is a matching numbers car that has not been seriously 'got at' and , given the history of the car that I know, it is entirely possible that the indicated mileage of 97k may quite possibly be genuine.
However, having used the little car as my daily for the last week it has proved to be as sound and as practical as I remember my first one to be. Given that, in standard trim, an RP saloon has less horsepower that some garden tractors, they are not fast and one tends to proceed at the car's pace rather than one's own. About 40 to 45 on flat roads, less on hills.
A Seven handles perfectly satisfactorily if one is prepared to take a little time to learn how the car behaves. Providing that the steering and suspension are in reasonable fettle, on a box saloon, initial understeer changes to roll oversteer, no doubt because of its somewhat perpendicular architecture ( and the fact that the outer rear spring tends to lengthen as it flattens), but I have found that, provided one drives it round a bend, this does not present a problem. Things can get a bit interesting if you hit a bend on a trailing throttle but not worryingly so.
The brakes are perfectly adequate provided you drive well ahead of yourself, which we should all do anyway.
In short, I had forgotten just what a pleasant place being behind the wheel of a box saloon is. Mine has proved to be well behaved and fun to drive, providing that you are not in a hurry and allow plenty of time for your journey. I have every confidence that this is true of any well maintained touring Seven.
Undoubtedly, there are better cars both of the Seven's era and later, but that doesn't make them bad cars by any means. Indeed, were I reduced to having to own only one car, I would be perfectly happy with my Seven.
I should say at once that I have no experience of the short chassis cars, having only driven one once and then not for any distance. The three cars that I have owned in my motoring career have all be long chassis cars, two RP saloons and a special.
I am perhaps lucky insofar as my present RP saloon is a matching numbers car that has not been seriously 'got at' and , given the history of the car that I know, it is entirely possible that the indicated mileage of 97k may quite possibly be genuine.
However, having used the little car as my daily for the last week it has proved to be as sound and as practical as I remember my first one to be. Given that, in standard trim, an RP saloon has less horsepower that some garden tractors, they are not fast and one tends to proceed at the car's pace rather than one's own. About 40 to 45 on flat roads, less on hills.
A Seven handles perfectly satisfactorily if one is prepared to take a little time to learn how the car behaves. Providing that the steering and suspension are in reasonable fettle, on a box saloon, initial understeer changes to roll oversteer, no doubt because of its somewhat perpendicular architecture ( and the fact that the outer rear spring tends to lengthen as it flattens), but I have found that, provided one drives it round a bend, this does not present a problem. Things can get a bit interesting if you hit a bend on a trailing throttle but not worryingly so.
The brakes are perfectly adequate provided you drive well ahead of yourself, which we should all do anyway.
In short, I had forgotten just what a pleasant place being behind the wheel of a box saloon is. Mine has proved to be well behaved and fun to drive, providing that you are not in a hurry and allow plenty of time for your journey. I have every confidence that this is true of any well maintained touring Seven.
Undoubtedly, there are better cars both of the Seven's era and later, but that doesn't make them bad cars by any means. Indeed, were I reduced to having to own only one car, I would be perfectly happy with my Seven.