Description

1932 Austin Seven RL Saloon

A fine Austin in lovely order; cloth interior; excellent door shuts and brakes; on offer from a deceased estate

There is plenty to like about this very pretty Austin Saloon. It comes with a good history file, which includes a buff logbook dating back to 1958 when it lived in Lincolnshire, a nice original handbook and parts book along with a good selection of invoices.

Dating from 1932, it would be one of the last saloons built on the short wheelbase chassis and is the prettier for it. It has had a few local owners since the 1990s, its last acquiring the car in 2019 and spending time and effort to improve many aspects.

Shortly before he bought it, its previous owner had employed Chris Gower seat repairs to retrim the car in 2017, a nice job using quality cloth upholstery fabric which cost £2,680.

The vendor's late husband had a new radiator core fitted by H&L Radiators in 2019, with further bills listing new screen and door seals etc.

Phoenix rebore attented to the block in 2020, fitting one liner and reboring back to size so the engine has clearly seen considerable attention. It currently sports a non-standard Zenith 24T carburettor, a common modification which usually works well but in this case there is still some tuning to do - a proper careburettor would improve matters straight away and are easy to source.

It also had new clutch linings at the time of the engine overhaul, although bidders are advised that the clutch is currently slipping so it has possibly been contaminated with oil - perhaps through an over-filled engine or gearbox. The car was driven some 20 miles to the sale and has been running around on-site, but will obviously require some work before any ambitious journeys are underaken.

Earlier this year, a reconditioned distributor was acquired (£120), the car having covered few miles since then.

It has clearly been comprehensively restored at some point and exhibits particuarly good door fit and general fit and finish and carries its original number VO 7111 which remains transferable.

Get ready for the Centenary of the Austin 7 next year, which promises to be a bumper event and one not to be missed.

For more information - contact matthew.parkin@brightwells.com