Lot details
Registration No: KX 9797
Chassis No: 167757
Mot Expiry: None

Apparently inspired by the Peugeot Quadrilette, the now immortal Austin Seven was announced in 1922. It is amazing to think that its tiny splash-lubricated 696cc (soon increased to 747cc) sidevalve engine was the design of an 18-year old draughtsman called Stanley Edge, and the Seven immediately became the smallest four cylinder-engined car on the British market. It featured four-wheel brakes (though on very early examples the front ones were operated by the handbrake and rear ones by foot pedal). The front suspension was by a semi-elliptic transverse spring, while the live rear axle was fixed to a pair of quarter elliptic units, and steering was by worm and wheel. Electric starters were standard from 1923. Taken to heart by the British public, the Seven remained in production from 1922 until 1939, during which time some 290,000 were produced. It was also manufactured under licence in France, Germany, Japan and America. As with any car whose running gear seems unbreakable, many examples were plundered by special builders (Colin Chapman's first Lotus was based on an Austin Seven) or simply run into the ground. The remaining cars are a vital element of the Vintage movement.

Presumably one day all the classics long since secreted away in barns and tumbledown garages will have been rediscovered, but for now they seem to keep coming, and this completely unmolested 1933 Austin Seven Van is a perfect example. Unearthed by the company demolishing a house and adjoining bakery in Newport Pagnell, the Mitchell Bros Blue/Black painted bread and cake van had presumably been slumbering in peace for years. We understand it has never been MOT'd and, as it's clearly not taken to the road for some time, will presumably need a level of recommissioning before it does once more. A perfect project for the long winter evenings ahead!