Austin Seven Special

About the Austin Seven Special

The Austin 7 was an economy car produced from 1922 until 1939 in the United Kingdom by the Austin Motor Company. Nicknamed the "Baby Austin", it was one of the most popular cars ever produced for the British market, and sold well abroad. It wiped out most other British small cars and cyclecars of the early 1920s;its effect on the British market was similar to that of the Model T Ford in the USA. It was also licensed and copied by companies all over the world.The very first BMW car, the BMW Dixi, was a licensed Austin 7, as were the original American Austins. In France they were made and sold as Rosengarts. In Japan Nissan also used the 7 design as the basis for their first cars, although not under licence.

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 Mk1. One well known version of an Austin 7 special was the Cambridge Special pictured in this entry. A sidevalve cylinder head with a built in heat sink aided cooling and provided a very perky little fun- car.