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

[Dave Mann]

I like getting a wreck and getting it going again. In 1962 a month or so after I was given a dismantled RN which had stood outside for a couple of years I found another RN. The body had suffered from it's rapid descent into a farmer's tip, an old clay pit he was filling, but that didn't stop me stripping it of everything off the body, leaving a bare wrecked body shell. In 1998 I spotted an advert for an RN body, after a month of pontificating ( I was in the process of rebuilding an RN) I phoned up to find I was the first to enquire about it and ended up buying an almost pristine bare body shell and ended up with a full garage while I rebuilt two RNs. The collection of bits included a windscreen with tax disc which enabled me to recover the registration number and the car took to the road in 2001.

[AntC]

I am. I hope, shortly going to be in the position to buy an Austin 7 and have been scouring the internet for examples that I would like.

My aim is to have one that I can use any day I like, whatever the weather, and more importantly, one that my wife would also enjoy. She isn't a fan of my V8 series 1 Land Rover!

So, my wish list, currently, is a Top Hat, restored sympathetically in the 90s or 2000s with good wood frame and bodywork, a Phoenix crank and associated improvements would be nice for a bit of trialing, coupled brakes conversion might be good and a patina gained from use since it's restoration but not too dog-eared. And, most importantly, costing less than GBP10k.

However, this could all change when I see a cracking little Pearl for sale or, and this is between you and me, a super little Morris Minor!

I shall now go and wash my mouth out!

[Colin Wilks]

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

When I bought my first Seven late last year I thought I had bought the first of Ian's variants. Naive fool! The more I delve the more I realise I have stuff to do - crank and camshaft, carb, fuel tank, wheel bearings and king pins (oh and while the engine's out I might as well strip the gearbox).Quite happy with this as I'm enjoying getting back on the spanners, but I now want something to just drive around in and which I can be less particular about than the 65, so an oily rag with a known history would be my pick just now. 

Colin

[Chris Garner]

AntC,
I hope you find what you are looking for but I would ask you not to consider a Top Hat saloon as a trials car. Firstly they are rare, and perhaps more important, and will not stand up to the rigours of trialing without possibly extensive body damage.  The ash frame in a Top Hat starts to rot from the top downwards and often need very extensive work.
I am fortunate to have found a late '28 Top Hat which had been garaged since the mid '70s. Mechanically it had been well maintained but the engine was seized. With the car came the original engine which I have rebuilt using a Barlow crank. Now back on the road, it is very " oily rag ", but basically sound. The only problem is that with the window rubbers in a parlous state they rattle like hell and slide open of their own accord! The car should be on the PWA7C stand at the NEC Show in November if you wish to see it.

[AntC]

AntC,
I hope you find what you are looking for but I would ask you not to consider a Top Hat saloon as a trials car. Firstly they are rare, and perhaps more important, and will not stand up to the rigours of trialing without possibly extensive body damage.  The ash frame in a Top Hat starts to rot from the top downwards and often need very extensive work.
I am fortunate to have found a late '28 Top Hat which had been garaged since the mid '70s. Mechanically it had been well maintained but the engine was seized. With the car came the original engine which I have rebuilt using a Barlow crank. Now back on the road, it is very " oily rag ", but basically sound. The only problem is that with the window rubbers in a parlous state they rattle like hell and slide open of their own accord! The car should be on the PWA7C stand at the NEC Show in November if you wish to see it.

Chris, I take your point and, if I get a Top Hat, it will not be used for trialing, so please don't loose sleep on that account.

I am aware of the rarity and fragility, it's just that they are my favourite Austin 7.

I remember back in the early 60s when I worked at Beaulieu, seeing a Top Hat trials car belonging to Michael Ware, then the museum photographer and stalwart of the 750MC, and he had one tucked away in a garage.  I never saw it being driven!

Ant

[Mr Pharmacist]

I'm also in the market for an Austin 7 at the moment and am currently torn between a total project or something that is done and i can use and improve over the coming years. I'm drawn to specials, though i do like originality espcially with lots of patina. I have also hillclimbed my current classic, and am tempted to have a go at hillclimbing whatever Seven i end up with just for fun.

So i want a project, complete, original, special that i can hillclimb. I really need to narrow my list down and decide what i want....

[Biddlecombe]

I'm also in the market for an Austin 7 at the moment and am currently torn between a total project or something that is done and i can use and improve over the coming years. I'm drawn to specials, though i do like originality espcially with lots of patina. I have also hillclimbed my current classic, and am tempted to have a go at hillclimbing whatever Seven i end up with just for fun.

So i want a project, complete, original, special that i can hillclimb. I really need to narrow my list down and decide what i want....

So what is patina? Factory condition, kept regularly polished for 80 odd years? Dulled paintwork that shows every rain-streak and leaks like a sieve? Does patina extend to the engine compartment? Do grease covered suspension and brake drums that haven't been cleaned for 20 years count as patina? Is the measles of rust all over the rear wings patina or should they be rubbed down with 4 x 0 wire wool? Where does patina end up as rust, cracked dry leather, and leaky seals. Just asking?

[AntC]

To my mind, somewhere between the scenarios you have described and a 38k Chummy

[Mr Pharmacist]

Patina to me, is something that doesn't look like its come out of a showroom - you can see the history in it, without is falling apart. Its hard to find i think - most cars with 'patina' are often barns finds that were stuck in barn because they broke down for some reason and are rotted rather than patina'd. But a car that has genuinely been used but also cared for looks the best to me.

[Colin Morgan]

Plan to hang on to my Ruby as it can be used out and about all year round, but it would be good to add a vintage Seven needing a bit of work (as they usually do).  Best if they have some history or are ripe for research.  And as original as possible in terms of the main components and driving experience.  Shine not an issue.

Liked the aluminium Swallow tourer with the modified tail that was sold a while ago - but I think it has gone to Australia?

Colin