Austin 7

The 54th National Austin 7 Rally takes place at Beaulieu on Sunday 3rd July and holds one of the longest unbroken runs for a one-marque club using the same venue for its annual event. For one enthusiast the event will mark a particularly significant milestone. Bertie Fowler, who bought his first Austin 7 in 1966, will be attending his 50th rally. He purchased the 1936 ‘Nippy’ (one of the relatively few production sports models that Austin made) at the age of 19, negotiating the £90 deal in darkness by the Derby Grandstand at Epsom racecourse. It was, he says, ‘the best buy I ever made’. Years of happy motoring followed, even in the face of what Bertie describes as ‘the usual Nippyisms’ of the doors flying open when negotiating fast corners. The car came off the road in 1976 and […]

The 2016 National Austin 7 Rally will be held on Sunday 3rd July in the grounds of the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu. Gates will open at 9am. This year’s theme will be ‘Austin 7 Sports & Racers’ and there will be a special display of some rare and interesting examples. They will be joined on the rally field by a huge variety of other Austin 7 models and a great selection of trade stands catering for all Austin 7 needs. One of the joys of the marque is the ready availabilty of spare parts, making it one of the easiest and most affordable of pre-war cars to own. The Austin 7 is one of the most recognisable and well-known of pre-war cars. Generations grew up owning and driving the little ‘Motor for the Millions’. Austin themselves produced sports versions […]