1934 Austin Seven Tourer | Brightwells | Auction Ends: Wed 16th Sept

Expertly restored in the 1980s at great expense and only lightly used since; rock solid car with deliberate 'oily rag' patina; full weather equipment; nice original number plate; driven over 30 miles to the sale; forced sale due to illness

First registered in Surrey in March 1934, this Austin Seven four-seater Tourer comes with a buff logbook implying that it remained in that county until the late 1950s before moving to Oxford for 20 years. In 1981 it moved up north to Lancaster when it was acquired by a Mr Clive Lamb of George Lamb & Sons Ltd, a well-established Austin Rover dealership in the village of Hornby.

Mr Lamb must have been seriously fond of the Austin because he promptly sent it to historic vehicle restorers, Ollerton Engineering of Preston, where it received a total body-off restoration which took a year to complete and ultimately cost £5,630 – a very considerable sum which would have bought you a brand-new VW Golf GTi or BMW 316 at the time.

This did not include any mechanical work either – just the bodywork, chassis and interior – Mr Lamb electing to get his own mechanics to rebuild the engine, gearbox, running gear, electrics etc, which were all carefully put back in the car in stages to suit the painting schedule recommended by Ollerton Engineering, as carefully spelled out in invoices of file (see photos).  

It was clearly an expert job and the body and chassis are still in remarkably good condition some 45 years later. Don’t let the ‘oily rag’ looks fool you, a subsequent owner has elected to give the Austin its current patina by distressing Ollerton’s brown-over-black paintwork (the car’s original colour) with a thinly applied coat of matt black, artfully rubbed through and coated in linseed oil for that essential ‘Rat Catcher’ look.

By 2011 the car was owned by a Mr M Hayes of Nuneaton, a valuation certificate from the Midlands Austin 7 Club declaring the car to be an ‘excellent restoration’ which should be insured for £12,000 at that date.

Supplied with a hood and sidescreens, all in good condition, it also has a couple of invoices for routine servicing and new parts fitted, plus four old MOTs which imply that it has been in light regular use, covering some 2,000 miles over the last 18 years, Some parts catalogues and a tuning and maintenance guide by The Pre-War Austin Seven Club are also included.

Our vendor acquired the car in March last year from a gent who had owned it for the previous dozen years. He has been using it as a daily runabout, telling us that it has proved very reliable and always draws loads of attention from young and old alike. The icing on the cake is the original Surrey-issue number plate, BPC 906, which is transferable and doubtless has a value of its own.

Driven over 30 miles to the sale on a baking hot day, it has been starting promptly and running well as we have moved it around on site, with healthy oil pressure. Only reluctantly for sale due to our vendor’s declining health, this eye-catching Tourer is ready for a new owner to enjoy and is sure to turn heads wherever it goes…

Consigned by James Dennison – 07970 309907 – [email protected]