17-07-2019, 04:22 PM
My first Seven wasn't my first car. That was a 1935 Wolseley New Fourteen bought for the princely sum of £12.10s from an advert seen in a newsagents in Llampeter. I bought the car almost as soon as I had passed my test in August 1967 and used it until the following February, when, going to college in Cardigan one snowy morning, I was in collision with a Crosville bus travelling in the opposite direction at Ffos-y-Ffin which skidded and sandwiched me between itself and a wall. I was quite upset at the time, as the Wolseley was quite a civilised car.
Crosville were self-insuring at the time and it took until the following August for them to finally pay up, during which time I was back to my trusty BSA Bantam which I had bought when first starting work in 1966. If I remember correctly, Crosville gave me £20 in settlement a tenner of which I spent on a 1934 RP saloon which a friend found in Birmingham and I dutifully went up by train and drove the car back. It had virtually no brakes and the kingpins had seized and were turning in the axle eyes. I was lodging with my first boss and, when he saw the car said " You're not driving that 'till we've fixed it!" So we did. In a fortnight of evenings and weekends, the car gained brakes, steering, a repaint in back and oxford blue and was ready for me to start college in the September.
And yes, although it grieves me to admit now, I was cruel to that little car, driving it more like a Lotus Seven than an Austin Seven with the result that the engine was quite often in bits after some mechanical mishap or another. Apart from running into the back of a Mini-Cooper and some traffic lights (his brakes were better than mine) and leaving two dents in his rear bumper corresponding to the Seven's front wheels, the only accident I had was in the New Forest whilst on a camping trip with friends, when chasing a friend's Rover 12 I managed to turn the car over on it's side, fortunately without major damage. (Yes PedigreeChummy and Ruairidh i could be a d*ckhead too!).
On another camping trip I managed to lose the luggage rack and petrol tank, due, no doubt to the fact that I had handsomely exceeded the 40 lbs luggage weight whilst on holiday in Cornwall. A local blacksmith put it all back together again for 30 bob.
I sold the car to a lad who was going to restore it and I am happy to say that it is now in the capable hands of Hedd Jones.
Needless to say, I am much kinder to my cars these days..........
Crosville were self-insuring at the time and it took until the following August for them to finally pay up, during which time I was back to my trusty BSA Bantam which I had bought when first starting work in 1966. If I remember correctly, Crosville gave me £20 in settlement a tenner of which I spent on a 1934 RP saloon which a friend found in Birmingham and I dutifully went up by train and drove the car back. It had virtually no brakes and the kingpins had seized and were turning in the axle eyes. I was lodging with my first boss and, when he saw the car said " You're not driving that 'till we've fixed it!" So we did. In a fortnight of evenings and weekends, the car gained brakes, steering, a repaint in back and oxford blue and was ready for me to start college in the September.
And yes, although it grieves me to admit now, I was cruel to that little car, driving it more like a Lotus Seven than an Austin Seven with the result that the engine was quite often in bits after some mechanical mishap or another. Apart from running into the back of a Mini-Cooper and some traffic lights (his brakes were better than mine) and leaving two dents in his rear bumper corresponding to the Seven's front wheels, the only accident I had was in the New Forest whilst on a camping trip with friends, when chasing a friend's Rover 12 I managed to turn the car over on it's side, fortunately without major damage. (Yes PedigreeChummy and Ruairidh i could be a d*ckhead too!).
On another camping trip I managed to lose the luggage rack and petrol tank, due, no doubt to the fact that I had handsomely exceeded the 40 lbs luggage weight whilst on holiday in Cornwall. A local blacksmith put it all back together again for 30 bob.
I sold the car to a lad who was going to restore it and I am happy to say that it is now in the capable hands of Hedd Jones.
Needless to say, I am much kinder to my cars these days..........