Category: Preparation

One of the best things about the Austin Seven is the wealth of books, current and contemporary, and other material to help you look after a Seven and also learn about its history.

Here is what I managed to acquire. Some came with the car, but most I had to hunt around for and found on eBay or from specialists. I liked the garage poster that gives you the key servicing information, I wish I could get this for every car I’ve looked after.

The old books are brilliant. It is clear that it was the norm for an owner to do the work himself and the normal handbook tells him how to do pretty much everything from normal maintenance to more serious work.

Not only do they tell you how to maintain your Austin Seven, but also how to drive it.

Some of the old handbooks were particularly useful. They made sure you didn’t miss any key regular serviceable items.

There are written with language familiar, but with a style of its age. The written works describes jobs rather than using diagrams, without any ambiguity or lack of information. Some words that we use today were clearly not in use in the 1930s.

The newer documents reference older material to allow you to identify what car you have to find and order the right parts.

Researching and learning about the car is almost as good as looking after it and taking it out for a drive.