The Austin 7 is a 2-door tourer / 2-door sedan (car) / saloon / 2-door convertible (car) / cabriolet / 2-door coupé / 3-door van from British Motor Corporation, built from 1922 to 1939, the vintage years, when coachbuilders still shaped most of what was sold. Under the bonnet: 747 cc I4.
The background
The Austin 7 is an economy car that was produced from 1922 until 1939 in the United Kingdom by Austin. It was nicknamed the "Baby Austin" and was at that time one of the most popular cars produced for the British market and sold well abroad. Its effect on the British market was similar to that of the Model T Ford in the US, replacing most other British economy cars and cyclecars of the early 1920s. It was also licensed and copied by companies all over the world. The first BMW car, the BMW Dixi, was a licensed Austin 7.
In France they were made and sold as Rosengarts, and in the United States they were built by the American Austin Car Company. In Japan, Nissan also used the 7 design as the basis for their first cars, although not under licence. This eventually led to a 1952 agreement for Nissan to build and sell Austins (which were now being made under the British Motor Corporation) in Japan under the Austin name. Many Austin 7s were rebuilt as "specials" after the Second World War, including the first race car built by Bruce McLaren, and the first Lotus, the Mark I. Companies such as Speedex in Luton thrived in the late 1950s by producing race-proven bodies and engine parts for the Seven chassis. Such was the power of the Austin 7 name that the company re-used it for early versions of the A30 in 1951 and Mini in 1959.
The engineering
Power comes from 747 cc I4. It weighs 375 kg. It shifts through a 3-speed Manual transmission / manual / 4-speed Manual transmission / manual. The wheelbase is 75 in. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Where it sits
Its family tree is legible: its successor was the Austin 8 / Austin Big 7; assembly was at Longbridge. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Lancia Lambda, the Fiat 804, the Vauxhall 23-60 — show what else the money bought that year. Its British Motor Corporation stablemates include the Austin 10 and the Austin 12.
What it costs now
There is no federal ownership record for the Austin 7 — it predates the complaint database or was never sold in the United States — so MotorJury publishes no running-cost figure for it. For a car of this age the price is set by the collector market and the condition of the individual example, not by a formula.