A Passion for 7's

Passion. That's what it's all about, a love of something, your thing.

For David Mawby it's the Austin 7. He has quite a collection, he likes them to be as near to original as possible and selected a Strongman Tools Glenfinnan 4 Post to aid him in his efforts to maintain, restore and service his impressive fleet. I was lucky enough to install this lift and got chatting to David to discover the stroy behind his fantastic collection of Sevens.

Getting to grips with an Austin Seven Pearl

 using the compact 4 Post Lift installed at home

The 90^th Anniversary of the Austin 7 was celebrated by the Seven Club’s Association with a Rally in 2012 at Warwick School. Sir Herbert had the conviction to champion the small car, targeting the family man with more comfort than motorcycles and sidecars, he was aiming for £100 purchase price to open up motoring to the masses, much like the Model T had managed in the US, and the “Baby Austin” was born.

Mulliner Saloon, originally built for a Circus Midget

“It was coach-built built for a Circus Midget, originally the top of the split windscreen was blacked out, he drove it looking through the bottom.  This car spent upwards of 30 years on display in someone’s living room, taking pride of place, alongside a Mustang” was my introduction to a Mulliner bodied Austin 7 Saloon, one of an impressive selection of Classic Seven’s that now reside with David Mawby.

­­He doesn’t just own the cars, David has a passion for them and has very definite criteria when it comes to selecting the vehicles to enhance his impressive collection. He doesn’t want restored vehicles, David scours the country for Seven’s that are basically original, cars he can lavish care and attention on to use and drive but are basically the same vehicle as left the production line when manufactured in the 20’s and 30’s.

The “Big 7” being enjoyed by Shane and his younger brother Steven

David’s father owned an Austin Big Seven, HPD 594. “He always promised to give it to me for my 21^st and he did just that in 1997.”  It’s had a little paintwork done on it but nothing major, “My wife and I got married in it, in fact it’s done several family weddings”. That very car was being clambered over by two of David’s children as we spoke, there is certainly no “hands-off” policy, both lads jump in and out of all of the Seven’s as we talk, enjoying the vehicles, and that’s exactly how David likes it. His collection is treasured, but not to be viewed as in a museum, but to be lovingly maintained and regularly driven. The boys are given free rein to help, opening bonnets and pointing out their favourites, the legacy of the Big Seven has already been decided, “It’s going to be mine!” exclaims Shane……

Along with the Big Seven, David was given a book “Original Austin Seven” published by Rinsey Mills, 1996. “I studied the cars in that book and dreamed of, one day, owning one similar to the lovely vehicles it featured”. This book became David’s Seven Bible. He has gone one better than owning similar vehicles, on page 6 there is a list of those featured cars, four of those cars are now owned by David, having tracked them down, all complete with exhaustive histories and all original vehicles.

Austin 7 Chummy Pictured with Original Owners Wife

“The most difficult part was persuading people to sell”, he says, “I now have an Austin 7 Chummy which is in the Mills’ book, reputedly the most original Seven left in the world. It is un-restored but runs brilliantly, we have the Top Gear prize awarded to the car in 1983 for the most original Seven”. After setting his sights on the car the owner was tracked down, through club sources, his first reaction was to tell David, explicitly, that the car wasn’t for sale, followed by a question “How old are you?”. At the time David was only 29, the owner called back a week later and quizzed David about his knowledge of Seven’s and asked to come and see his collection, at the time, of 4 cars. One thing led to another and David managed to convince the owner to sell, which he did, for the same price he originally purchased the car, on the condition that David never sold it and kept it, just as David insists that all his cars are kept, original! “I have a photo of that car from the 30’s, with the original owner, when he died the car was rescued from the scrap man by a local Austin Dealership who purchased it for their showroom”.

Then and Now, 1928 Mulliner Coupe

“As a boy, my father had often told me about a 1928 Austin Seven Doctors Mulliner Coupe”, XV 4756, “that he had owned years before I was born.”  David was brought up on a diet of Classic Cars, Austin’s in particular, and having heard the re-told stories about the Mulliner “I always wanted to see it in the flesh, so to speak, as I had only ever seen the pictures”. Having tried and failed to track it down he told Dave Martin, who keeps the Austin Seven Fabric Saloon Register, about the car.  “He could remember, possibly, seeing the Mulliner some years ago and thought he knew the owner’s address. I followed this lead and got in contact with the gentleman, who still had the car in the corner of his garage.  Amazingly it was only seven miles away from where I live, I managed to persuade the owner to let me go and look at the car”. After a long conversation, recounting his family’s history with the car, “I eventually persuaded him to sell …….. I didn’t tell my father that I found the car, let alone purchased it, until the morning of collection”. Since then the Mulliner has been re-commissioned and is back on the road, “My father insisted on being the first to drive it”.  Researching the history of this car they discovered it to be one of only seven built and now is possibly the only complete survivor. Originally it belonged to an Emily Louise Everitt and she had her own crest put on the doors.  It was first registered in December 1928 in Middlesex and Emily had owned it until 1962, David’s father being the third owner, he sold the car in 1972. The Mulliner has been lightly restored, the body is original but the fabric cover was replaced in 1970. This is blue in colour and matches the blue painted bonnet, whilst the wings are black.  The upholstery is in blue Bedford cord.

1931 Austin Seven RL Van

Another of collection with a story to tell is this unusual van, with only a single rear door and no rear window, body number AV72, one of only 115 built, first registered new in Taunton Somerset to a Fredrick Henry Adams, a Dairyman. He kept the vehicle until 1940, when it was sold to Service Garage at Tidworth, it was used during the war, witnessed by the petrol coupons stamped in the Log book. After the war, the van had a couple of different short term owners, and then in 1949 it came into the hands of Mary Betts, daughter of Major Betts who used it mainly to transport hay bails to her horses in the village of Broadchalke near Salisbury, and one of the original commercial tax discs is still displayed in the windscreen showing her name. When Mary emigrated to Australia the van was laid up for many years until 1968 the van was sold, as his 21^st birthday present, to Ronald Mills. Ronald added the passenger seat and used the vehicle for his hairdressing business for approximately 3 years, and then acquired a more modern vehicle, laid the van up in his garage where it remained until 2004. Until 2011 the van had not been taxed since 1970.

Orignal log book for the RL Van

The Mawby collection boasts a French Seven, a Rosengart, which was requisitioned by the German Army during WWII, and has all the documents to prove it. The RL Van has an additional chassis mark, VD 194, it is possible that this vehicle was also requisitioned, by the War Office…..David is still researching this.

I asked David, “What is it about the Seven that hooked you?”

 “Well, it’s motoring for the millions, not a car for posh people but one for the masses……they are easy to look after and maintain, easy to drive, an ideal first Classic to own and most definitely a family car”

The watchword for David is certainly “Original”. The cars in his collection are not “nut-and-bolt” restored to a facsimile of the car as it left the production line. As far as possible they are the same vehicle that left that factory. As David says, “the cars are well maintained but NOT restored” They are lovingly maintained, dry stored and preserved in excellent condition to be driven!

David has a couple of garages at home, in one he has installed a 4 Post ramp which, he says, “makes the job of getting to grips with all the hours of work so much easier”. He wanted a proper 4 Post but didn’t need, and couldn’t fit, a full size lift. He settled on a Strongman Tools Compact 4 Post, their Glenfinnan model, specifically designed for people to use at home, “It’s the smallest lift in their range but perfect for me, just like a ramp in a commercial workshop it has a full length jacking beam. Having a lift is essential, I certainly wouldn’t be able to keep up with the maintenance schedule on all the cars without one”. It also allows him to double-up storage space in the workshop, the lower car being protected by full length drip-trays – another essential!

A 1930’s Pearl Cabriolet is currently hogging the 4 Post. It was barn stored for years, genuinely only two owners from new, not really used since the 50’s and only 7000 miles from new!. “It’s very original – just the sort we like – purchased unseen off the internet, I phoned up and agreed a price immediately, had someone pick it up, when it got here they had put an MOT on it and it was running!”.

Mechanically, “it’s had a new clutch plus a head gasket and the carb’s been overhauled, currently we’re giving the body the once over but it’s a sound car and I’m pleased with it”. 

Most Seven’s sport a 7.8 BHP four-cylinder 747 cc side-valve engine with an integral 3-speed gearbox. Although later models employed 4 speed and synchromesh, the vast majority of Seven owners have perfected the art of matching the engine speed when changing gear, something which David maintains “doesn’t lend itself to modern traffic, people nowadays don’t understand that some things are done more sedately”. According to David the engines are bullet-proof, “just watch the bearings!”.

The simplicity of the Seven’s design is attractive to all Seven enthusiasts. David reckons he gets 40 MPG, “I use unleaded and just add a little Redex….”. The cars respond to regular maintenance and it seems owners do the same, nothing goes down better than to help each other out. Owners that have sold their cars to David keep in touch, “I mentioned to the chap that sold me the Chummy that I was having a problem with the clutch on the Pearl currently on the ramp, he came down to have a look and ended up doing the job!” The community of Seven owners extends worldwide, the ready availability of parts and the unending sources of camaraderie making owning and running the cars a joy. According to David, perfectly serviceable cars are available for around £6000 - £8000, projects from £2000 are feasible. “The good news is that they are on a chassis, so if you’re looking at one it’s easy to check if it’s going to be worthwhile to part with your money, there are plenty of Seven’s around, look for a mechanically sound one, check wheel bearings, brakes, engines and gearboxes and make sure the body is solid.”

A recent offer of £35k for the Doctor’s Coupe was politely refused, “that won’t leave the family again!” It certainly isn’t about money for David and his family, although goodness knows he spends enough on the cars, it’s about history, tradition, pride, fun and PASSION.

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