After posting in Groaner's Corner, (which would probably be the appropriate place for me!) and following Timothy P's advice, I shall introduce myself.
I am David Stepney and live in Bala. After not owning a Seven for about 35 years, I have bought myself a 1933 RP saloon to replace my Porsche 944 which was (a) becoming eye-wateringly expensive to maintain and (b) I could no longer get into and out of it with any dignity.
The reason why I bought my Seven is rather an odd coincidence, so I shall start at the beginning.
When dinosaurs roamed Cardiganshire (in the 60's) and I was an apprentice motor mechanic, I bought a fairly disreputable RP saloon the registration number of which was TH4219 which conveyed me to and from college for about two years until I fell in love with an equally disreputable Daimler Conquest. I sold the Seven to a friend of mine who was a body repair lad who said he wanted to restore it and that was that.
I had kept a lot of spares including a 'high' chassis and in about 1979/80, built myself a special which I then sold in '83/84 to buy a Riley Adelphi.
About two years ago, I was doing a bit of shopping one summer evening in Bala when I saw an Austin 7 parked outside the Coop, so I went to have a look. Imagine my surprise to see that it was TH4219 looking very much better that the last time I had seen it. I didn't get to speak to the owner, but it set me thinking about another Austin Seven.And now I have got one.
It was first registered in Fife on 4th July 1933 and, by doing a bit of detective work with Wyatt, it appears that it was probably built during the first two weeks of June. It was then bought by someone in Altringham in 1968 and restored in the early seventies but had been in dry storage since 1994. It had been got running when I went to see it and after arranging insurance and tax, I got my grand-daughter to drive me up in my 'modern' to collect it. Bearing in mind that the car had not been run in anger for 25years, we stuffed my car with tools, petrol, oil and just about everything I could think of that i might need in coaxing an 85 year old car the 70 miles from Altringham to home. In fact, the only thing we used was the petrol, the little car behaving itself very well on the way back.
It's not without it's faults. It's definitely an 'older restoration' but is eminently presentable. The clutch had to be replaced as it tended to slip on the hills around here, and I have had the fuel tank professionally cleaned and sealed. The rear axle is noisy, the gearbox rattles and the rear main grumbles but nothing that can't be fixed and the car is still perfectly useable. In fact, I took it to Dollgellau today to collect my new glasses. a round trip of about 35 miles.
here are a couple of photos: