A7s in today's Telegraph...

[Charles P]

A cracking article... except for all the errors!

In 1919 the Austin 20 was considered neither big nor heavy, it was very much a mid-sized car.

The Seven was not the first mainstream car to have what is now considered the conventional pedal layout; both the Austin Twelve and the Twenty had this layout before the Seven. I have no idea whether Austin pioneered the layout in Britain, but several 'mainstream' American cars used this layout before the First World War.

Nor was the Seven responsible for the Austin Motor Company's recovery from receivership; the financial investment that effected that was in place before the first Seven prototype was built.

The Austin Seven was never built in Japan, and only assembled, not manufactured, in Australia.

If Sam Grange-Bailey's car is that illustrated, then it is a 1931 car, not 1929; nor is it fitted with a magneto.

and just to nit-pick, the 1923 price was £165, not £167.

But still, it makes for a good read, and it's all good publicity.

Also I've always restricted the term "Box Saloon" for the steel bodied cars starting with the RL, but I may be wrong in that interpretation

c