Practicle classics guide to the Austin seven

[Derek Sheldon]

I would be interested in the opinion of the collective on this publication

[Tom McGowran]

I would be interested in the opinion of the collective on this publication

I thought it very good value for money. I wish I had had it before taking the engine out and rebuilding it last winter. It would have saved me a lot of headaches...

[Derek Sheldon]

HI have just had a reply via email from Bob Olive to which he says.

I don't know how many of you have been seduced by this publication (advertised as a Collectors' Edition of 150 - which is actually 300!), which Ray showed us in the current edition of the PC monthly mag last club night.

I received mine yesterday, and have to say that imho it is not really very good at all, very disappointing.There are many inaccuracies, sweeping generalisations and some glaring omissions... Again in my opinion... for what worth.

Even the double page spread called the Spotter's Guide to Seven Variants is just a random scattered selection of different models with no pattern of chronological order or preference to the layout (strangely, with over 300 variants known there are two depictions of the Opal, but no mention of the Pearl at all... funny that.)

Examples:  'most Sevens today have Phoenix cranks...' really?
On a Tech Specs table, there is no mention of Sevens between 1932 and 1936... and on the 'poster which comes with  the mag (it is only a mag) it states that there are circa 7,000 survivors, and that the total, that is, worldwide, production was 416,000. I would certainly query these stats.

Another thing is the imbalance between models - six pages out of 84 ( there are 16 pages of ads or old posts which we all know well) on military Sevens is too much ( only two or three survive), but very little on the more important and prominent models, I.e Box and Ruby and its variants.

I could go on,  but won't, and in fairness would say in mitigation that there are some excellent colour photos and articles of different restoration cases (although I think some of these maybe reprints of earlier reports in PC).

As the psychiatrist famously said in Fawlty Towers " There's enough material here for an entire conference".

There we are, rant over, but then I'm in ranting mood today.
Rating: 2 stars out of 5.

[Tony Press]

HI have just had a reply via email from Bob Olive to which he says.

Derek,

A bit harsh- the original basic copy of A practical Classics Guide to the Austin Seven was listed at 7 UK pound- I got mine post free for A$20.

The website says out of stock so it was popular.

A few errors- what Austin Seven book hasn't.  

The Collectors Copy ? hard cover version, which was much dearer, apparently had the same contents !

I enjoyed this magazine style booklet as a good read with a few interesting articles.

Cheers, Tony.

[Michael]

Another little bit of info that requires correction:

'The Original Austin Seven' is no longer available through Bay View Books. It is now published by Herridge & Sons,

https://www.herridgeandsons.com/original-austin-seven

ISBN 978-1-906133-05-4.

[James Anderson]

In general I think the magazine is really good especially the part on the engine with labelled component parts. My main problem with it, especially if it has been published to attract newcomers, is it banging on about hardened valve seats a task that may be relevant to racing or highly tuned Austin 7 engines but not to your average driver using their car over short distances. I've ignored this advice for the last 50 years and will continue to do so ! Admittedly, I add something like Castrol Valvemaster Plus to the fuel for long journeys (100+ miles) when I’m subjecting the engine to higher than usual revs (3000+rpm). 

To add weight to this point, there was an article in the Daily Mail today stating that there has been a 10% reduction in Classic Car values largely due to (in their opinion) a lack of engineers capable of dealing with such cars. As most experienced A7 owners’ are aware, one of the great merits of the Austin 7 is its simplicity enabling the average owner to maintain and work on it him/herself. This situation is not helped by the magazine's advisors frightening off potential owners with inappropriate complex tasks such as the insertion of hardened valve seats.

[David.H]

I always understood that lead as an additive was not widely introduced until the late 30's as an "anti-knock" solution to find a simple way of upping the Octane rating. So that Austin Sevens (and virtually all pre-war engines, other than "racers!") will run happily on the Unleaded fuel they for which they were designed. Mind you I do wonder about some of the evil witches' brew of additives that go into modern unleaded ( E- numbers anyone!).