Heater

[Tony Griffiths]

I too have found most Sevens to be warm enough in winter once on the move. It's when you stop in a snow-bound traffic jam that things become a bit chilly. Still, there is no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothing.

[David Stepney]

In winter weather, I find that it’s my hands that get cold. The rest of me is fine as quite a lot of heat comes in from the engine compartment. I keep a pair of thermal gloves in the glove box (well that’s what a glove box is for, isn’t it) to deal with this.

[James Anderson]

When I was 17 my inexperience mind just thought of one solution, remove the floor around the pedals. Obviously my mature and older self would be horrified with that suggestion (for any number of reasons!) but it worked!

[Malcolm Parker]

As far as open vintage cars are concerned, I think a heater is a waste of time.   My experience of them is that they always seem to be colder with the hood up, definitely a case of top down and dressing up like Ernest Shackleton!
The coldest I have ever been in an old car was doing the Measham three years in a row navigating in the back seat of a vintage Austin 12 with the hood up.   All the hood did was direct an icy blast up the back of your neck.  Mind you, it was cold, there was frost on the bonnet top even with the engine running.

[Robert Leigh]

A further thought about the heater illustrated is that it might work better with an export fan. When I was using a Seven as daily transport during winter '63 I blanked off a substantial part of the lower radiator just so that the engine would run at a more normal temperature. I remember stopping at Grantham for some aluminium foil for this purpose when driving to Thirsk for the start of a particularly cold Measham. I think that was the event where one unfortunate participant got out of his vintage Bentley for a pee, slipped on the sheet ice and broke his leg.

[Peter Sweeney]

With the big 7 its a bit simpler. During lockdown I did it like this mounting the heater and fan in the passenger foot well.

[Tony Griffiths]

And for our next trick – air conditioning. No, opening the screen at 38°C does not work!

[Ivor Hawkins]

A big Seven with a heater and alternator...after the air con it'll be electric windows!

[John Mason]

Ivor, I thought you already had all those extras and were working on a ABS braking system for a seven.



John Mason

[Ivor Hawkins]

John, I’m for the simple life, I’m not even bothered the petrol gauge doesn’t work!