Остин Семь: История легендарного "Малыша Остина"

The Austin 7 is an economy car that was produced from 1923 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. 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.

Until the First World War, Austin built mainly large cars, but in 1909 they sold a single cylinder small car built by Swift of Coventry called the Austin 7 hp. After this they returned to bigger cars. In 1920 Sir Herbert Austin commenced working on the concept of a smaller car, mainly to meet the needs of young families aspiring to own an affordable motor car. This idea was spurred on by the introduction of the Horsepower Tax in 1921. His design concept marked a departure from his company's conservative motoring past and Austin received considerable opposition from his board of directors and creditors. Because the company was in receivership, Austin decided to carry out the project himself, and in 1921 hired an 18 year old draughtsman, Stanley Edge, from the Austin factory at Longbridge, Birmingham to aid in the drawing of detailed plans. This work was carried out in the billiard room of Austin's Lickey Grange home. Edge later claimed to have convinced Austin to use a small four cylinder engine. The original side valve engine design featured a capacity of 696cc (55mm x 77mm) giving a RAC rating of 7.2 hp, the cast cylinder block featured a detachable head and was mounted on an aluminium crankcase. The crankshaft used one roller and two ball bearings and the big ends were splash lubricated. Edge also later claimed to have carried out the design of other mechanical components such as the three speed gearbox and clutch assembly. Austin was largely responsible for styling the Seven's design, which was reportedly influenced by the design of the Peugeot Quadrilette. The "A" frame chassis design was believed to have been influenced by the design of an American truck used in the Longbridge factory in the early 1920s. The design was completed in 1922 and three prototypes were constructed in a special area of the Longbridge factory, and announced to the public in July 1922. As a result, two new sports models were offered by Austin in January 1924, the Sports and the Brooklands Super sports. The Brooklands Super sports was a replica of England's record breaker. Each car was sold with a Brooklands certificate proving a speed of per hour. By 1925 Gordon England held nineteen 750 cc class records.

In 1927, William Lyons, co founder of the Swallow Sidecar Company (after WW II Jaguar Cars), saw commercial potential in producing a re bodied Austin 7. Buying a chassis from dealer Parkers of Bolton Lyons commissioned Swallow's talented employee, coachbuilder Cyril Holland, to produce a distinctive open tourer: the Austin Seven Swallow. Holland (1895 1983) who joined Swallow in late 1926 had served his apprenticeship with Lanchester and would become chief body engineer. The height of saloon car fashion of the day was to have the back of the body fully rounded, this was called "dome" shaped. With its bright two tone colour scheme and a style befitting more expensive cars of the time, together with its low cost (£175), the Swallow proved popular and was followed in 1928 by a saloon version: the Austin Seven Swallow Saloon. Approximately 3,500 bodies of various styles were produced up until 1932, when Lyons started making complete cars under the SS cars marque. Such was the demand for the Austin Seven Swallows that Lyons was forced to move in 1928 from Blackpool to new premises in Coventry. It was, in part, the success of the Swallows that laid the foundations of what was to become, by 1945, Jaguar Cars.

Versions of the Austin 7 were made under licence by American Austin from 1930, Dixi (later bought by BMW) in Germany from 1927 and Rosengart in France from 1928. Austin 7s were also manufactured by Nissan (Datsun) but reports differ as to whether these were built under licence or were unlicensed copies. In addition, rolling chassis were exported to Australia to have locally made bodies attached.

The American Austin Car Company was founded in 1929, in Butler, Pennsylvania, in premises that had belonged to the Standard Steel Car Company. After some initial success the Great Depression set in, and sales fell off to the point that production was suspended. In 1934 the company filed for bankruptcy. The automobile was designed in the hopes of creating a market for small car enthusiasts in the United States. The cars had inline four engines, enabling the car to return , and travel 1000 mile (1609 km) per fill of oil.

In the aftermath of World War I the Australian Government imposed a tariff on imported vehicles, with tax concessions applying to rolling chassis, as a stimulus to develop a sovereign motor vehicle industry. The chassis concession acted as a financial incentive for local coach builders to import factory built rolling chassis, and fit uniquely Australian designed and built bodies, leading to the establishment of an Australian motor vehicle bodybuilding industry in the early 1920s. The largest and best known of these Australian coach builders was Holden's Motor Body Builders. Holden built Australian bodied Austin Seven tourer and roadster models from the mid 1920s. However, several smaller coach builders built limited numbers of Australian bodied Austin Seven sports models between 1924 and 1934. Some examples of these Australian bodied sports models are; the Standard Sports, built by Flood Motor Body Works, St Kilda Road, Melbourne; the Wasp built by William Green, Parramatta Road, Petersham, Sydney; the Moth built by Geo Sykes, Gordon Road, Chatswood, Sydney; the Comet built by Bill Conoulty, Sydney; and the Meteor. The Meteor was built by several coach builders (Flood Motor Body Works, St Kilda Road, Melbourne; Jack Lonzar, Kent Town Adelaide; and A Robinson & Co., 181 Castlereagh St, Sydney), with individual variations to the common design.

In 2007, during an episode of Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson and James May studied a number of early car designs (including the Ford Model T and the De Dion Bouton Model Q) and concluded that the Austin Seven was the first mass market car to be fitted with a "conventional" control layout, as found on modern cars (although the earliest car they found to use this layout was a Cadillac Type 53 in 1916).

Type Name Description From To XLprototypes1922 ABAluminium bodied four seater19221924 AC19241926 ADFour seater19261929 AEFour seater. Two inches wider than AD19291929Two seater19291930 AFSteel bodied four seater19301932 AHPressed steel body. Four seater1932 AAKOpen road TourerCowled radiator1934 AHPressed steel body. Four seater1932 PDTwo seater1934 APDOpalTwo seater19341936 AALOpen Road TourerCovered spare wheel1935 AHPressed steel body. Four seater1932 APENew OpalTwo seater1936

Type Name Description From To ACPearlCabriolet version of ARQ Ruby.1934 ACA"New" PearlCabriolet version of ARR New Ruby.1936

Type Name Description From To 50 mphAluminium bodied. Long tail1926 E Super SportsAluminium bodied. No doors19271928 EA SportsUlsterAluminium bodied. No doors EB 6565Aluminium body, steel wings. Rounded tail.19331934 AEBNippyAll steel19341937 EK 75SpeedyAluminium body. Pointed tail. AEKSpeedyRedesignation of EK 751935
The Ulster gained its name from a strong performance in the 1929 RAC Tourist Trophy held at the Ards circuit in County Down, where Archie Frazer Nash finished third and S. V. Holbrook finished fourth.

Type Name Description From To Type B Upper body fabric.19281931

In Australia Arthur Waite won the 1928 100 Miles Road Race driving an Austin 7. C E A Westcott did win the 1936 RAC Rally.