Family camping holiday touring France in an Austin Seven Summer 2018...

[Timothy P]

Echoing everyone else, it's been a pleasure reading about your travels, what a super holiday. 
Very inspiring stuff, thanks for sharing.

[Reckless Rat]

It was great to meet you all and share some time (and rosé) with you, Tanya and the girls.  Well done everyone, incuding the cabbie. I might just resurrect my trip to Santiago de Compostella in the RP.

The not quite so reckless one.

[Bob Culver]

Hi Ruairidh

Thanks for the touring shots. I have always found the tour photos of interested and adventurous travellers of far more interest than the sponsored commercial fare seen on TV. The minor roads seldom feature there. The old buildings of Europe always intrigue. Nothing here is old and everything is redeveloped so few will ever get to be. "Old" masonry buildings condemned as risks.
 
Views of the countryside seen at 45mph and much  less from the back seat of a Seven 65+ years ago are more firmly embedded than much from later in “moderns”.
When later driving the Seven with the abandon of youth, staying on the road required most available attention so did not observe so much... except up hills.
 
When my brother was 10 years old and the Seven 20 he did not like to be seen in it.  But my son as a teenager 10 years ago was more content to be seen in my 1960s car than in his mother’s modern. Driving the oldie especially impressed his colleagues. Be interesting to see how things develop with yours!
 
Surprised that a wheel bearing failed.  Very generously sized in the  Seven. Did the cage break up?

[Ruairidh Dunford]

I have never had a small front wheel bearing fail, ever.

I too was surprised - it appears fine now however.

Views from the back seat remain firm in my own memory, let's hope the next generation too...

   

[Reckless Rat]

I have a project for you Ruairidh... Save all those bits of LWB chassis that have been sawn off to make Ulster reps and a couple of Ruby shells weld them all together to create a "Stretched" Ruby. With two back seats you'll have plenty of room for the girls... You could have the world's one and only Ruby 6 lite limo!

Arf! Arf!

[Ian Dunford]

From the age of about eleven on until she got married your sister used to lie on the floor in the back in case any of her contemporaries should catch a glimpse of her.

[Nick Salmon]

When small, my daughter said she would only be seen in the Ruby if she was wearing a mask. I said I thought she was beautiful and didn't need a mask. She gave me an old fashioned look and flounced off.

Now, a couple of decades later she sometimes asks how much the Ruby is worth. I cannot think why she asks this.

[Chris KC]

This is a lovely photo. It just reminded me of a trip we made in 1966, Dad bundled me and two sisters into the back of a 2nd hand VW Variant and drove us non-stop to Jugoslavija as it was then. Endless miles gazing out of the window when we weren't playing games or singing songs. I'm sure that trip played a big part in forming my character, for better or worse! Like parachute jumping, it's something that changes your perspective for ever.

[Bob Culver]

Re RRs comments, one city in NZ ran a fleet of extended 1930ish Sevens as taxis. Someone may be able to find and post the photo. The taxi using public were presumably then slim. Many citizens are now proportioned larger than Americans, would only fit one at a time in the back seat. Might not have met the present braking requirment of 50% stop laden!

My brother used to insist on being dropped off around the corner. The car did have primer on left  rear guard, after being spun around in an intersection collision, arising from our right hand rule, which does not seem to appear in the UK Highway Code.

I remember the panel beater at the time commenting to my father that the steel was very tough to work. The car certainly withstands trivial bumps which dent moderns.

[Alan]

I never had any problem with my two daughters riding in any of the Sevens. They loved them. The 2CV was a different question. I had to drop them off around the corner from school when no one was looking. One day, however, a discovery was made. 2CVs are COOL!!!