28-03-2022, 04:54 PM
I've never been wholly comfortable with the modern habit of referring to Austin Seven models by their body code. Whilst it works for a great number of cars, there are far too many anomalies for it to be a reliable means of identification.
There's an unmolested Seven on eBay at the moment which shows the problem; most of us would be happy to refer to it as an Opal, although according to original Austin sales literature it should really be known as a 2-Seater, and today's convention would be to call it an APE tourer. The listing provides lots of detailed photos, including the chassis and engine numbers (215606 and 286229, so it's had an engine change), even the body number (1148), but the Car Number plate, which doesn't look like it's been tampered with, reads AVH-5070, which should be a van!
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/363759874390?...SwIMpiK3DY
Thoughts, anyone?
There's an unmolested Seven on eBay at the moment which shows the problem; most of us would be happy to refer to it as an Opal, although according to original Austin sales literature it should really be known as a 2-Seater, and today's convention would be to call it an APE tourer. The listing provides lots of detailed photos, including the chassis and engine numbers (215606 and 286229, so it's had an engine change), even the body number (1148), but the Car Number plate, which doesn't look like it's been tampered with, reads AVH-5070, which should be a van!
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/363759874390?...SwIMpiK3DY
Thoughts, anyone?