12-06-2020, 11:22 AM
Colin916, i did not sit in an Austin seven before buying one, I just bought it. After a lengthy restoration (there was a period of 21 years in the middle when I didn't touch the seven) it is now driveable. I've only driven it three times, total mileage maybe 20 miles, but this is how I enjoyed it.
Plenty of room for my legs (I'm 6 foot) and quite comfortable. No room for my left foot. I'm only a size 9 shoe but most footwear is too wide to operate the clutch easily. I've found an old pair of deck shoes and that problem is fixed.
Fun to drive! Quite nippy, light steering, and with practice you don't need brakes. Going in a straight line is easy, turning a corner is easy but seems different to other cars. Not a problem.
The clutch is a bit fierce but no problem to drive. I have not mastered manoeuvring, stop start in and out of the garage etc. Starting when the lights go green is ok, but trying to creep a foot forward is impossible. In reverse it's worse. But it's early days.
Can't drive it at the moment as the seats are away for upholstering. Strangely, i don't miss it. It's likely I will learn to love it, and no way I will hate it, but at the moment... don't really care.
In the past I've enjoyed driving everything from an A30 to an E type Jag, Rolls Royce and Audi Quattro, Transit and trailer, 7 1/2 tonne car transporter to artic. My other old car is a 1955 Austin Cambridge, a very pleasant and sedate form of transport.
Plenty of room for my legs (I'm 6 foot) and quite comfortable. No room for my left foot. I'm only a size 9 shoe but most footwear is too wide to operate the clutch easily. I've found an old pair of deck shoes and that problem is fixed.
Fun to drive! Quite nippy, light steering, and with practice you don't need brakes. Going in a straight line is easy, turning a corner is easy but seems different to other cars. Not a problem.
The clutch is a bit fierce but no problem to drive. I have not mastered manoeuvring, stop start in and out of the garage etc. Starting when the lights go green is ok, but trying to creep a foot forward is impossible. In reverse it's worse. But it's early days.
Can't drive it at the moment as the seats are away for upholstering. Strangely, i don't miss it. It's likely I will learn to love it, and no way I will hate it, but at the moment... don't really care.
In the past I've enjoyed driving everything from an A30 to an E type Jag, Rolls Royce and Audi Quattro, Transit and trailer, 7 1/2 tonne car transporter to artic. My other old car is a 1955 Austin Cambridge, a very pleasant and sedate form of transport.