1927 Austin Seven Chummy Tourer

Footnotes

A huge success from the moment deliveries commenced in January 1923, the Austin Seven remained in production until 1939. Well built, economical and easily maintained by the home mechanic, the Seven brought motoring within the financial reach of the man in the street, who hitherto would probably have settled for a motorcycle combination.

Its introduction helped save the ailing Austin concern and by the mid-1920s the Seven dominated the light car market in Britain. The sole version available when production commenced was the 'Chummy' tourer, which today remains for many enthusiasts the quintessential Seven and is highly sought after.

This Austin Seven Chummy was purchased as a project in 2009 and fully restored by well known Bentley enthusiast, and former Bonhams regional representative, the late Michael Smith of York, with the works completed in 2010.

There are bills on file for parts used in the restoration from The Seven Workshop and A7 Components totalling £11,300, together with an inventory of works. The latter included an engine and gearbox rebuild with a Phoenix crankshaft by Ian Bancroft Restorations (bills on file).

The Chummy was then issued a VSCC Buff Form/Eligibility Document for a 'Standard' car. Due to health reasons, Michael sold the car to Austin Seven collector Eric Elliott in 2010.

Eric kept the car for several years then sold it via Keyworth Classics in Nottingham to the previous owner for £15,000 in 2016.
'YG 7376' was last MoT'd when purchased by the current vendor in 2018 at 403 miles post-rebuild, since when it has seen minimal use (the current odometer reading is 593 miles).

The car benefits from work to the carburettor set-up and a recent engine rebuild after a lubrication fault was found, which was undertaken by marque specialist Steve Hodgson (SMH Services Ltd) in West Sussex (bill on file).

Always kept garaged, this beautiful little Seven is undeniably very smart, finished mid-green over black with black interior trim and matching hood (no side-screens). In addition to the aforementioned bills, the car comes with a current V5C, several old V5s, and a parts catalogue.