06-01-2018, 11:15 AM
(This post was last modified: 06-01-2018, 11:15 AM by Ruairidh Dunford.)
Bill Sheehan has asked me to post the following for him:
“Austin Seven Patents
It's very rare for Tony Press and I to be not on the same wavelength, but I have to query his descriptions of Australian Seven bodies. I don't believe the ones generally made for the Oz dealers (such as Holden, Egan etc) can be correctly described as Coachbuilt. My definition of Coachbuilt would be special bodies like Swallow, Gordon England saloons, Avon etc. In the main the bodies supplied in Oz were made to the designs supplied by Longbridge and there's very little difference in appearance between them and the UK factory cars. The only notable difference I've noticed is some (both vintage and post-vintage) had their rear floors extended a few inches to give more room in the back. Sure there are superficial embellisments such as swages around the tub, different windscreens, hood frames, spare wheel mounts, etc, but the dimensions were mainly as Longbridge. Anyone such as Latrobe etc had to take out their own patents for their different bodies.
As for the Sports, although admittedly I didn't take deliberate notice over the years, I recall very few had Austin Patent plates and I doubt these would have been there originally. The most noticeable difference I found was how many had had their original dashboards replaced - some with timber instead of the original metal, others the reverse. It makes sense that they wouldn't be allowed to instal Austin patent plates as the plates list 6 or 7 items that were not applicable to the special bodies, all of which required taking out their own patents.. If I recall correctly, even Tony's own Meteor Sports did not have a patent plate. My apologies for the long discourse, which is probably of no interest to Overseas readers, but it may help Australians restore their Sports or one-off bodies correctly.
Bill Sheehan”
“Austin Seven Patents
It's very rare for Tony Press and I to be not on the same wavelength, but I have to query his descriptions of Australian Seven bodies. I don't believe the ones generally made for the Oz dealers (such as Holden, Egan etc) can be correctly described as Coachbuilt. My definition of Coachbuilt would be special bodies like Swallow, Gordon England saloons, Avon etc. In the main the bodies supplied in Oz were made to the designs supplied by Longbridge and there's very little difference in appearance between them and the UK factory cars. The only notable difference I've noticed is some (both vintage and post-vintage) had their rear floors extended a few inches to give more room in the back. Sure there are superficial embellisments such as swages around the tub, different windscreens, hood frames, spare wheel mounts, etc, but the dimensions were mainly as Longbridge. Anyone such as Latrobe etc had to take out their own patents for their different bodies.
As for the Sports, although admittedly I didn't take deliberate notice over the years, I recall very few had Austin Patent plates and I doubt these would have been there originally. The most noticeable difference I found was how many had had their original dashboards replaced - some with timber instead of the original metal, others the reverse. It makes sense that they wouldn't be allowed to instal Austin patent plates as the plates list 6 or 7 items that were not applicable to the special bodies, all of which required taking out their own patents.. If I recall correctly, even Tony's own Meteor Sports did not have a patent plate. My apologies for the long discourse, which is probably of no interest to Overseas readers, but it may help Australians restore their Sports or one-off bodies correctly.
Bill Sheehan”