Joined: Aug 2017 Posts: 1,345 Threads: 240
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Location: North Herts
How about driving 7s from Buenos Aires to New York, or Peking to Paris, or Alaska to Tierra de Fuego, or the length of Route 66, or down to the local Sainsburys. All been done in recent years.
Don't have any fears about how far a 7 can be driven if car and driver are in reasonable good condition!
Joined: Nov 2017 Posts: 562 Threads: 56
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Location: West Yorkshire
Car type: Type 65 1934 + RP 1932
Hi Nick,
I got into Sevens only last year after seeing an Ulster style car in a local dealer's showroom and had a sit in it for no better reason than to see if it could accommodate my 6’2”.
Talking to people in the Yorkshire Pre War Austin 7 Club put me off the car due to its lack of originality. I decided to buy a Chummy (early four seater soft top) and went to see one in a classic car dealership. There he had a 1934 Type 65 two seater sports. It was love at first sight. More advice taken from the PWA7C and the car was bought. It was running a little rough but I figured plugs points etc should address this.
New timing gears, valves and cleaned out valve guides got it going just in time for this year's Pennine Run, on which we did 432 miles with no problems apart from a blocked jet.
So, taking your questions:
has anyone on here used one for driving any distance? See above
if looked after how reliable are they?
They are simple and robust, but need love and attention. Most technical queries will be answered by your local club on on here.
Is there a resale market for one if I bought it and didn't get on with it myself? Yes. There's a lot being bought and sold at any one time, but originality counts.
How much actual fun are they? I also have a Land Rover 2a Lightweight which has been bringing a smile to my face for five years now. However, the 65 gets many more smiles from passers by, my wife finds it very comfortable and I am loving getting to know it as far as both driving and working on it is concerned. I wish I'd bought one years ago!
Go for it, but join your local club first and ask for help.
Colin
Joined: Aug 2017 Posts: 294 Threads: 11
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Hello Nick and welcome to our forum.
You are wise to ask a few questions before buying an Austin Seven. Firstly, I think it depends on whether you are prepared for just how small the car is. It also may depend on whether you are looking for a sports type car like an Ulster replica. It is interesting that you were considering an early Land Rover because quite a few A7 owners also also drive them. (I also have a Land Rover product but we won't go in to that !). My Austin Swallow is not the best car for long journeys as it has the original running gear so difficult on hills but others have more practical 7s that cover huge distances. Lands End to John O'Groats is an extreme. The cars can do it - whether the driver is up to it is a different matter!
Your second question is generally "yes" but you have to remember that really old cars have a tendency to be tempremental. The great advantage is that they are a doddle to fix and that - to be honest - is part of the fun. Personally, I prefer fettling the car to actually driving it but then there is no hope for some of us!
So long as you don't pay over the odds and the car has a clear title (V5c) there is a healthy market for sporty looking Sevens - even if they have faults. In fact there is a healthy market for ANY Austin Seven if the price is right.
Finally, you won't find a car that is more entertaining to own and drive so long as you don't want to go too fast. Even the best brakes leave a bit to be desired. The Seven is a car that becomes addictive - so be warned!!!
Joined: Aug 2017 Posts: 725 Threads: 38
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Location: Herefordshire
17-10-2018, 07:10 PM
(This post was last modified: 17-10-2018, 07:12 PM by Martin Prior.)
Hi Nick.
Apologies to everyone else for the repetition, but I've used my 1933 saloon as normal, daily transport all year round for most of the 43 years since I passed my test in it.
I've been towed home once.
It's reliable and incredibly cheap to run, not to mention being huge fun. It's excellent for town driving and on country roads. On the down side, it's fairly slow, fairly noisy and cold in winter and I avoid taking it on motorways, but it does everything that I want it to.
The build quality of Ulster-style specials can range from near-perfection to truly terrible. Get someone who really knows about A7s to look in detail at any special that you're considering.
Joined: Mar 2015 Posts: 5,441 Threads: 231
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Location: Scotchland
Sage words, as ever, Martin.
Joined: Aug 2017 Posts: 3,388 Threads: 105
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Location: Darkest Bedfordshire
I think Martin's last point is important, I won't bore you by agreeing with everything else people have said but there is a big difference between a properly sorted car and a lash-up, which may not be obvious to the uninitiated. If you don't know Sevens ideally buy from a reputable trader (by which I mean someone inside the A7 scene) or get someone to come and take a look at it with you. Or if it's cheap then what the heck...
Joined: Oct 2018 Posts: 7 Threads: 3
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Thanks to everyone for responding to my post.
I don't think it will be a shed as I knew the chap from way back as was a mechanic who ran a garage. He also had a number of 80" Land Rovers which is how we came to know each other. All I remember is my friend telling me he searched high and low for the right one and bought it in the North East some years ago and got it back to Yorkshire where it currently resides. When I get to go over there I'll take some pics and post them to get some feedback.
Nick
Joined: Aug 2017 Posts: 1,230 Threads: 33
Reputation:
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Location: Salop
Car type: '28 GE Cup. '28 AD Chummy '30 RL Saloon. '34 RP Saloon. Too Many toys!
Ill echo Martins last paragraph.
What is for sale will not be an Austin 7 'Ulster'. Austins never sold such a model, the models they made, the super sports and EA sports are so rare now that you could count the number of genuine cars on the fingers or a hand or two.
So your talking home built replicas. Such cars range from exellent cars built on the correct chassis with vintage parts. Correct lamps and instruments etc. To diabolical things built on much later and thus longer chassis with none of the right bits. Of course you also get diabolical cars on the correct chassis, and excellently built.ones on the longer chassis. But you get the idea.
The well built.cars, correct in as many ways possible (some bits are unobtanium) are very desirable and are worth a shit load of money. Trouble is those with the diabolical ones think theirs is too. And here lies your problem. Take someone who knows what they are looming at. Buy a good one and youll sell it on easily
Ive four cars here. 3 on the road. They are great fun. Reliable enough. But they are simply repaired and most mechanical and electrical bits are availible off the shelf for next day delivery.
Ive just put one of the cars on the road, a four seat tourer (an aforementioned chummy). We have had a scream with it in the two months its been on the road. My 9 year old daughter can easily drive it (around fields), and she loved it when we had four of her friends in it for a lap round town. This weekend we were out in one of the saloons. We did nigh on a hundred mile without missing a beat, that car hadnt done any great mileage since july.
Joined: Aug 2017 Posts: 860 Threads: 74
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Nick,
I have owned an Ulster-shaped special for many years. It is enormous fun and has at times been used regularly for commuting as well as covering a few very long journeys. I would say however (and this is more of an issue as I get older) it is very much a sports car; you need to wrap up warm, spend time stowing luggage in the tiny boot and suffer the vulnerability of a small open car in modern traffic. Only you know if you would enjoy that.
By contrast I also have a Ruby which is much more sedate but easier to use as an everyday car. Not so capable of eating up the miles but a great deal more comfortable.
If at all possible get someone locally to take you out so you can see what's involved. As others have mentioned, condition is everything. "Ulster" is a very broad term indeed!
Peter.
