11-06-2020, 11:59 PM
I endorse what both Ian and Simon have said.
A well maintained Austin Seven is a reliable and comparatively inexpensive way of getting into prewar motoring, although standard cars are somewhat pedestrian by modern standards. They are, however a totally different driving experience from most post war cars. Everything has to be managed, from the power of the engine, which, again on a standard car is less than a garden tractor, to the handling which requires constant attention, and the barely adequate brakes. The clutch has very little movement between engaged and disengaged and needs careful handling, at least at first, but is quickly mastered.They are also little. Folk were smaller in the 30's than they are now. I am 5' 7", not tall by today's standards, But, in my RP saloon, even with the seat in the rearmost position, I have to sit on a cushion to get enough room for my legs to be comfortable.
That having been said, however, I thoroughly enjoy driving my box saloon and use it frequently. In fact, just over a week ago, I used it to go down to South Wales to collect parts for my VW Polo, doing nearly 270 miles there and back in the day without any difficulty whatsoever at an average (cross country) speed of about 30 mph.
AS the years went by, Sevens became more and more civilised. The earlier cars are truly vintage in their feel, but a late 3 bearing engined Ruby is a very comfortable (comparatively) quiet little car indeed and capable of almost 60 mph.
To give to some sort of feel as to what a Seven is like, there are several videos on Youtube ranging from a couple of road tests of a Ruby to videos of simply being out and about in one.
And Yes! Try and blagg a drive in one!
You don't say why you found a Series E Morris 8 so awful. I'm afraid my experience of that type of car is limited and is confined to a Wolseley 8 (same car but with the Wolseley overhead cam engine with another 5 bhp) that a friend owned when I was at college some 50 years ago. I remember it as quite a worthy little car. I had no wish to own one, but I wouldn't have described it as 'awful'. In fact the Wolseley 8 was the late Lord Nuffield's favourite car, and when he wore his first one out, in the 50's the factory built him another one out of spare parts!
A well maintained Austin Seven is a reliable and comparatively inexpensive way of getting into prewar motoring, although standard cars are somewhat pedestrian by modern standards. They are, however a totally different driving experience from most post war cars. Everything has to be managed, from the power of the engine, which, again on a standard car is less than a garden tractor, to the handling which requires constant attention, and the barely adequate brakes. The clutch has very little movement between engaged and disengaged and needs careful handling, at least at first, but is quickly mastered.They are also little. Folk were smaller in the 30's than they are now. I am 5' 7", not tall by today's standards, But, in my RP saloon, even with the seat in the rearmost position, I have to sit on a cushion to get enough room for my legs to be comfortable.
That having been said, however, I thoroughly enjoy driving my box saloon and use it frequently. In fact, just over a week ago, I used it to go down to South Wales to collect parts for my VW Polo, doing nearly 270 miles there and back in the day without any difficulty whatsoever at an average (cross country) speed of about 30 mph.
AS the years went by, Sevens became more and more civilised. The earlier cars are truly vintage in their feel, but a late 3 bearing engined Ruby is a very comfortable (comparatively) quiet little car indeed and capable of almost 60 mph.
To give to some sort of feel as to what a Seven is like, there are several videos on Youtube ranging from a couple of road tests of a Ruby to videos of simply being out and about in one.
And Yes! Try and blagg a drive in one!
You don't say why you found a Series E Morris 8 so awful. I'm afraid my experience of that type of car is limited and is confined to a Wolseley 8 (same car but with the Wolseley overhead cam engine with another 5 bhp) that a friend owned when I was at college some 50 years ago. I remember it as quite a worthy little car. I had no wish to own one, but I wouldn't have described it as 'awful'. In fact the Wolseley 8 was the late Lord Nuffield's favourite car, and when he wore his first one out, in the 50's the factory built him another one out of spare parts!