Yuk! Sorry to the owner

[Tony Griffiths]

@David Cochrane @Mike Costigan @all

So!
Today I was in Zurich and looked at the green Chummy. First of all, it should be said that it was not possible to solve the chassis number mystery. I could only crawl under the car from the portside, there was the wall on the other side. The badge plates are missing in the engine compartment. The engine number also remains unknown; it took a lot of effort to recognize at least a 4 and finally a 1. Apparently the engine block was once very thoroughly sandblasted.

It was initially an amusing conversation with the dealer, but that quickly changed. He began by saying "This is the only car with scuttle-mounted headlamps still in existence" - I pretended to be impressed. Later I asked a few specific questions and he noticed that I had some knowledge about these cars and he got a bit annoyed. He was very careful about what I was doing and that I wasn't taking any photos. He thought he had something very valuable in his garage and his final price was £38,000. "It's nearly 100 years of age..." - Yes, I know, so what?

In general the car's structure is in fair to good condition. The underbody in particular is flawless, including the axles, completely free of rust and very clean. However, rust can be seen on the inside of the front wings, where the paint has also chipped off, as well as on the end tips. But that's nothing problematic. What's worse is that the car has undergone numerous modernizations. It has a red painted high compression head, hydraulic brakes, it's running on 12V, and if I saw it correctly, it has a contactless ignition system and xenon or LED lighting. Other numerous details are also not original, there is even a chrome-plated exhaust pipe, has anyone ever seen something like that? But at least the original three-speed gearbox seems to be present.

Conclusion:
The conversions are all intended to simplify everyday use. As the dealer told me, the car was previously rented out for photo or film shoots, weddings, parties and other things. On the positive side are the very good chassis and of course the low chassis number due to the early year of manufacture. But I can't help it, somehow it's not actually an Austin Seven anymore, and the asking price is of course far too high. My price would be GBP 5000-7000, perhaps add 2000 more because of the early production year. But not more than 10,000, anything more than that would be inappropriate. It will be time-consuming to bring the car back to its original condition. There are currently many significantly better ones on the market, for reasonable prices. When I explained that to the dealer, he closed the bonnet, said "You've seen enough" and threw me out.

That was my Austin Seven experience today.

Case closed.

Very amusing, Hurvinek! Reality will slowly dawn - and he's going to be disappointed. Or, a fool turn up to gladden his heart. I'd be cruel, Hurvinek, and email him some recent auction results.....