If you were to buy an Austin Seven today - what would you look for?

[Viteran]

As a custoidin of a Ruby 11 years older than its owner mechanical reliability would be important ( with or without the NHS )
And the thought of a wipe over with an oily rag delightful

[Ruairidh Dunford]

Some lovely stuff coming from this - keep it coming please.

[Nick Turley]

The ideal for us would be a genuine car with real known history.
In really good mechanical condition (I would want to use it).
Body and trim to be in very good order.
Unmodified as the factory spec.
They all need working on.
Last would be price as the market determines that and there is no free lunch.

[JonE]

Something unforeseen, creating maximum adrenalin rush (but, most probably, future and severe PITA value).

Perhaps from someone leaving a note on a windscreen, or on a tiny, newly posted advert in spidery handwriting pinned to a tree in a remote wood...

[jansens]

No one is going for the 38000 quid Chummy?

I'd like another Chummy. My last was a bitser, fibreglass wings, welded chassis, unoriginal body and so on. Great fun but an original would be nice.

But that said, what's original now? As they say, the pendulum swings both ways. We've gone from over restored, better than factory cars back to the full on un-restored, oily rag barn finds being desirable. But I would suspect the real laid up never used again until rediscovered cars that are original but usable without massive rebuild work are extremely rare.

A lot of so called barn finds seem to be neglected, previously badly restored cars. If you do get a previously restored car how can you make it right? Simulate 90 years of wear? What's the right thing to do? If the upholstery was redone in the 60s but badly do you you redo it now correctly and lose that history?

I think the way things are going, people calling for all electric, autonomous vehicles (as a software guy I think this is years off personally) we should enjoy what ever old cars we can now, no matter how unoriginal they are. When the idiots in charge decide all 'old' cars should be off the road they won't be looking at the rivets to see what's original.

Simon

[Charles Levien]

Price?

Originality?

Shine?

Something to work on?

Patina?

All of the above and more?

What is the mood today?

All of the above, apart from the shine. I hope the mood is towards increased use of our Sevens so a mechanically sound car is worth two shiny ones that never see the light of day.

Charles

[Parazine]

I always look at the interior first. Original is good, a Ruby or Box with original leather seats, door cards and so on is worth far more to me that poorly replicated trim in Ambla, overstuffed with foam and held together with staples. Sadly original headlinings are very rare (and fragile) today.

Having said that, my Chummy didn't have anything inside it when I started on it so it all had to be recreated, hopefully reasonably correctly.

My RK saloon was retrimmed many years ago and now has its own patina from forty or fifty years of use.

[Reckless Rat]

I think if I had the opportunity to buy again or another, I would go for a tourer of some sort although I'm quite happy with my RP even though the roof panel is fixed. It would have to be something that can be used, not taken to shows in the back of a horse box and tickled with a nenette all day. Not a special, an original (or nearly) car with a bit of patina, and preferably with a rivet police exemption certificate.

[Viteran]

I think that actually you need two, one reasonably original and mechanically sound that can be used with minimum maintenance and a second that needs a middling amount of restoration so you have the satisfaction of playing with the oily bits.
Re the £38,000 chummy, most of us if we had a bonus would probably spend some on a car, so if your bonus is £29 million??
Ian

[Mike Costigan]

If I had £38,000 to spend on a car, I would look at the market and what I could get for my money ... and it wouldn't be an Austin Seven!