Terrifying and amazing! Driving a vintage 1925 Austin Seven. In Winter... 

You drove it well, several other people I have let drive it have really struggled with it... After a few thousand miles it becomes a bit less scary, although I do still find single track roads alarming at times.

The camera position during the test drive was perfect! Helped share the sense of horror behind the wheel.

Love it! When I was a kid growing up in Surrey, a neighbour and his friend drove an Austin Seven, black two door hard-top all the way to Russia. At that time nobody knew what went on in Russia, but he claimed that the people treated him like Royalty. It made the Newspapers and left everybody in awe of this rather brave feat.

What a treat! This little car is a heart-stealer; she almost talks, what with the gear whine, exhaust thrum, valve clicking, fan roar, and a whole vocabulary of automotive chatter. More of these storied survivors, Ian - please!

Brown corduroy trousers are a smart choice of wardrobe when trying out a car that scares you shitless 😂

This is peak Ian. The way he can relate the driving experience is like no-one else, plus he has his encyclopedic knowledge and infectious love of wipers. Pure indulgence for the viewer.

I have a picture of my Grandfather behind the wheel of his (very simmilar to this example), in Dublin in the 1920's. Apparently the Police would pull him over as he was often a little too merry to drive it, they would help him get it home. There were no drink driving laws then, nor driving tests.

A cute little car. Many in the UK will know the live action 1990s British childrens tv series called 'Brum' which was about the adventures of a characterful sentient half-scale replica Austin 7 Chummy convertible called 'Brum'. Each story was about the car escaping from the car museum without the owner knowing, having adventures in 'Big Town' (Birmingham) and then returning to the museum. 'Brum' is also short for Birmingham, UK.

A (large) part of me wishes that cars were still made like this today. Love the sound inside!

It's amazing to think that when this car was new, many in rural areas still travelled into town on a horse-drawn carriage. Hardly any other cars on the road so it was much less dangerous, I guess?

5000 miles a year in that shows dedication and not a little madness.

My late father was born in 1913 and in his youth, late 1920s early 1930s, he worked at Lucas's garage in Mansfield Notts. He sent for his licence at 16 in 1929 by telling them on the form that he was 17, no driving test until 1935 so once he got the licence in the post he was driving. One of his jobs was to take the train and tram to the Longbridge factory to pick up new Austin 7s for customers and drive them back to Mansfield at running-in speed of around 30mph maximum, so quite a few hours' journey on those old roads. (No car transporters in those days). Apparently when the customer came to pick up their new car they were taught how it worked and how to drive it, just for an hour or so before driving away. A few years ago a friend of mine was restoring a 1931 one which was a similar shade of red to that one you were driving, and he wanted to know the exact colour and whether it was a standard one. My Dad immediately said that it was indeed a standard colour called Indian Red, and he remembered it well, so my friend restored his accordingly. He sadly died in 2001, but his stories of how the motor trade was in the 20s and 30s were fascinating.

In the 1920's the blanket speed limit out of town was 20mph as set from 1904. This limit didn't change until 1935 when the in town limit became 30mph and out of town there was no set limit. So, the Austin 7 was simply a car of its time and when in first class order all round it goes very well. Its not terrifying, one simply accepts its design features and adapts to them.

Perfectly splendid! I remember the newspaper man who delivered his daily round to all the outlying farms on the Gloucester side of Ross-on-Wye in the 1960s. I seem to recall he ran it on petrol and TVO (tractor vapourising oil: paraffin). It must have been a chilly experience trotting around in the thing, it was what you might call, basic. He got stuck once outside our place in the terrible winter of 1966. My brother and I fetched our old shire horse out - she was bored with no farm work to do any longer - we hitched up to Mr Rigby's Austin and she pulled it straight out. He gave us sixpence for it, it was wonderful! Therefafter old Flower found herself in work for the rest of the winter dragging out snow bound cars, she loved it! It was astonishing what she managed to drag out of the drifts, but then she was nearly 17 hands and built like a bulldozer. She earned us quite a few bob over that winter, it put the sparkle back in her eye and meant that my bro and I could go to the Roxy Cinema more than we had ever done.

I've driven an early 7 and it was exactly like you said: scary but amazing! It really is a skill to make one move along smoothly and thus incredibly rewarding. Scary to think people modified and raced there, and still do.

I enjoyed that. Fair dos to Colin for effectively daily drive it. The chassis on these early Sevens ended under the front seats, so the rear seat and body was effectively dangling over the rear wheels. The 747cc produces just 10bhp, but the car is exceptionally lightweight. Give me a shout if you fancy test-driving my 1932 Morris Minor.

Astonishing how original this is - mind blowing. Makes me thankful of all the modern amenities we have now - like brakes, steering and synchro!

Thoroughly enjoyable - your enthusiasm is infectious, as is your abject terror...

Back in the 50s a local man had one of those. His indicators were wooden arms, complete with hands, that swiveled up to indicate his intention to turn.

Always loved the idea of a battered old 7 as a daily driver. Sounds like great fun but for now will stick to my 2CV

I would like a shot in that, reminds me of some old Bristol / Leyland double deckers I have driven. It's their way or no way! Add a bit of steering free play to camber steering you get that totally unpredictable feeling. Also these oldies have nothing like the braking effort we take for granted, so you need to drive knowing it someone stops in front of you and you are close, you probably won't. Never try and descend a hill faster than it could climb it, was the rule I was taught.

Your test videos recently have been true HubNut and fantastic. This is the first time I've been in an Austin 7 on the road (through video) and they're actually a great little car, better than expected. I'm really impressed how it handled the steep banks at the Severn Valley Railway which makes me think they could handle the hills around County Durham where I live, albeit at 10 mph!!

It's Brum's older brother. Love with older stuff, our brains are capable of figuring out the exact position of levers and taps to get things running.

When you say it feels like the rear is steering, it really is. A quirk of the rear springs at standard height means you get a snap-oversteer as the car leans. Racing / lowered cars are the opposite as the springs are flat. This induces a stabilising rear understeer which is much less lethal! You coped with the clutch and gearbox very well.

This video, like the car, is an absolute gem. Your joy at that successful gear change was lovely.

Nothing makes me smile like an Austin 7, really enjoyed this. I find the trick with my, admittedly much more refined Box Saloon, is to just relax the grip on the wheel and let it wander. Also the back axel does steer as the body rolls due to the quarter-elliptic rear spring moving the axel further rearwards as they compress, the effect is sort of like a skateboard truck.

The series/parallel switch for half power for the lights is pretty hilarious. Simple and effective though of course! But so crude! I love it.

Back in the early 1970's my father, who was a body and fender man, restored in our garage out back of our home, a 1952 Jaguar XK 120 drop head coupe. The Jaguar owner was a US Navy career man and while stationed in England he purchased a 1934 Austin 7 2 door Salon that he brought back to the States. The Austin sat in garage up on blocks from 1939 to 1955 and it had about 24000 miles on it. He gave the Austin to my father as partial payment for restoring the Jaguar. My brother and I learned to drive in it, we drove it around our yard when we were 14 and 15 years old. We used to drive it to high school often and never went straight home after school as we would travel all around the local neighbor hoods turning heads where ever we went. It was a blast! The Austin to this day is in that same garage under a cover with only about 27000 miles on it...great memories.

This has to be one of Ian's best reviews ever. You can feel the horror in his voice, which makes for an exhilarating experience. It feels like watching the Ari Vatanen's co-pilot "oh dear God" moment at the 1983 Manx International Rally.

My late father learned to drive in a seven, and there was me thinking I had it hard learning to drive in a MK3 Cortina! I have to admit that driving the seven looks both terrifying, and a bunch of fun at the same time. She is just so tiny compared to a modern car. And those doors! Car doors these days are 10 times thicker. Amazing to see this one in such original condition, have seen plenty restored to within an inch of their life, so nice to see a true survivor like this.

Ian, I thoroughly enjoyed your video. Apparently Herbert Austin copied the layout of a floor mounted stick shift and pedal arrangement etc from Cadillac and then did the world the great service of popularising it so that it became the standard we still use today. As always, thank for good, clean and edifying content.

Family legend time: allegedly my grandad (died long before I was born) once drive a 7 up Snowdon. He had to do most of it backwards as it was the lowest gear. Also nice to see the engine shed @ Bridgnorth - my father-in-law is working to restore one of their locos in there!

When someone who tools about in an Invacar says it’s terrifying you listen😂. Brilliant video mate, had me smiling all the way through👍

It shows how far motorcars have come through the ages. Interesting history of Austin, to which I knew very little!

I'm reading an account of my Mum's life...she died a few years ago. This was here 1st car - she had to shout for my Dad to get out and push when they were going up hills, in Wales, on their honeymoon. Thanks for the video.

Love it! Imagine if cars were like this now? No one would dare speed. Everyone would be driving along looking terrified at 30mph 😅. Incredible how original it still is at nearly 100years old. Using this as your main car is mental!

They were very good choices for camera location. We could see the view ahead and see the controls, and also see what a grin you had on your face 😋

My dad had a Ruby. His first car. 18 hours from London to Manchester before the motorways were built. -You know you are living when you are scared of dying! 😂

This was my grandfather's first car; on one occasion he had a wire wheel collapse and he said that in rural Yorkshire he had to reverse it up steep hills !

When I and my two brother (at the time - 4 of us later on) during the 40's after the war, were in my Dad's Austin 7 Ruby Saloon travelling from Sidcup in Kent to Bodmin in Cornwall. When any of us kids wanted to go to the toilet Dad would only stop the car when all of us wanted to go! When I got out my legs were dead and I fell over and we all laughed. We were so cramped up in the back. That little car never once let us down which was a credit to my Dad who got it as a bomb damaged vehicle and spent a year renovating it. Memories which this video brings back so vividly. Many, many thanks for sharing this, a wonderful story.

Ahhhhhhh.....the joyous sounds of the wheezy side-valve with the straight cut gears providing a beautiful descant......and of course the driver uttering all sorts of concerns and exclamations (in any number of vocal registers - often simultaneously) as he pilots the wee beasty at 40mph! Many thanks for taking the challenge on, Ian. I've always wondered how the early Sevens were compared to the Model T of the era.....and the answer is SO MUCH easier to drive. I've seen the T driven and demonstrated and it makes the Seven look positively modern! If the foot brake worked both front and rear brakes at the same time, I don't think you would have been half as terrified. I'd like to give a Seven a go, but I don't think I'd ever take on a T. Funny how we get used to things like direct steering and hydraulic braking and really miss them when they aren't there, eh? All the best

Proper analogue motoring! Bracing.. Fantastic vid, Ian - right up there with TWC in a thunderstorm.

Here's an idea. Dress in 1920s clothes, drive that car to a country pub, park, rush in, loudly asking 'What year is it? What year is it?" and when you're told, scream "YES! IT WORKS! IT WORKS!" Then rush out and drive away.

Ian the look on your face whilst driving this wonderful little car is great. Somewhere between absolute pleasure and terror. I envy the pleasure part.

Another legacy of the Austin Seven is that John Haynes - of Haynes manual fame - wrote his very first book about how to build Austin Seven-based 750 specials. I got the reprint that Practical Classics magazine included after his passing in 2019, I wish I knew where it was because it's fascinating.

Brilliant. Well done Colin for loaning it out. The rear feels like it's coming round because it is, as the body rolls one spring flattens and the other lengthens and so you have slightly rear steer.

There are some fabulous classic car restorations around, but there's something very special about an original, untouched car.

"...and now I see the appeal of this car. Every journey becomes a massive adventure..." LOL! Line of the century! Classic. 😂🤣 Great video. Thanks for showing us your friend's car. A true look back at what motoring once was.

Love it. Thanks for putting your life on the line to bring us this history lesson.

A very brave man indeed! I remember reading in Graham Hill’s autobiography about him being a passenger on the London-Brighton Vintage Car Rally - he found it terrifying! I didn’t really understand it at the time, but having just watched you driving that much later car I can now see why…

I was once driven in one from Wrexham to Kidderminster in continuous pouring rain. My main task, as passenger, was to stick my hand out of the window and manually to work the windscreen wipers because the wiper motors steadfastly refused to operate at above 10 MPH. Ah, the joys of classic car ownership.

That's a proper car, raw, visceral and totally involving. I'd love one.

Fair play Ian that was a tricky set of junctions where it stalled, but you got it all going calmly and set off without any drama. That has brightened up a gloomy Sunday morning 😊

Interesting, I remember driving my uncle's Ruby many years ago. My uncle drove it all around New Zealand. I remember he blew a gasket in the middle of nowhere , no problem just change it on the side of the road. They always made it home. Personally i find the affordable cars more interesting than all the limited production expensive cars stuff you see in museums.

I'd like to say ''a stroll down memory lane'' but it was twenty three years before my time. Great video.😎

Nothing as pure and as joyful as a nearly 100 year old Austin!

Nice class 50 in the background. There is an Austin like this at the Launceston steam railway, up in the loft at their small museum also in this condition. Excellent vid Btw Ian.

The car that brought motoring to the masses. Great fun! I was at Bicester yesterday watching the VSCC putting these wonderful little machines through their paces.

Dunno if you heard, "The definition of a gentleman, is being able change gears in an austin 7 without getting your face slapped" My Grandfather had a similar size austin in the late 50s early 60s, until he got a humber. You did ok.

Hi from down under...my mum & dad owned an Austin 7 and drove it from Adelaide to Melbourne (450 miles) & back in the early 1950s to attend a wedding..They slept under leaves & pine needles & only ate bread + cheese. When they arrived people laughed at how red & windburned their faces were! quite a journey in those days!

That long downhill stretch had my palms sweating! The best RU-vid ride along I've ever been on!

My friend has a Chummy, I've only been in it once and it was, as you quite rightly say, absolutely terrifying. Its body twisted and flexed like no business and the vibrations where pretty impressive too. Great fun and some happy memories were made.

Brum's evil granddad. 😆Fantastic. I want one.

I helped restore a 27 Chummy in the late 90's, that was brought to the States in the late 50's/ early 60's. It was fun to restore & drive. I heard it made its way back to GB, when it was gifted to the Owners Sister, who lived there. She was originally Green/Black, But the Owner had us paint Her Red / Black, with the Radiator Buffed & Polished.

Brilliant fun. Austin Sevens are so involving and as you said, every journey is an adventure (they're surprisingly good off-road too, as long as the gradient isn't too steep (though I managed Porlock Hill in mine). Highley village to Bridgnorth is a route I never drove in my 1937 Ruby or 1937 Opal two seater, but many times in my Series Land Rover which replaced them. The Austins and Landy share quite a few characteristics: please yourself steering, fingers crossed brakes, bouncy castle ride and the unfailingly ability to put a smile on your face on every journey. Be careful, you'll end up wanting one!

What a fantastic little car,so full of character,had a big smile on my face watching this video,the sound of the engine was great with the whining etc,really really enjoyed this thank you.

My father had one of these in Sydney Australia. He was born in 1929 and it was his first car. I don’t know exactly when he bought it. I still have a framed photograph of him sitting in it, obviously proud as punch!

Great little car from an era when you had to be a driver (and sometimes a mechanic) rather than just directing the car where you wanted to go. Loved the video.

Thanks for this Ian, this is probably my favourite one of your videos I've seen so far. I actually laughed out loud when you got to the twisty bits. Very entertaining and educational too

Superb Ian, real hands on motoring….. and quite hilarious 😊

this is one of your most entertaining videos ever 👍

I'd love a pre-war car, every dull journey becoming an adventure sounds like great fun!

Thoroughly absolutely brilliant video Ian 👍it's fantastic car waw you were brave there but it's a testament to properly built cars brilliant

Well done, Ian - brave lad! I was half expecting to hear a commentary from Toyah Wilcox. 😁(She was on 'BRUM', a British TV programme for kids about a little animated car's adventures. It looked remarkably like this one. The model itself was built by Rex Garrod, who was best known for making fighting machines for Robot Wars!). It's ironic that driving back in the 1920s was probably (sort of) safer than driving today. When making decent progress demanded your full attention and a fair bit of skill, a driver's mind was on driving and his eyes were on the road. Nowadays cars are so quiet, comfortable, capable and easy to drive that the only people who really, REALLY concentrate on the job in hand are racing drivers. It's scary to put an old car on modern roads, but what's even more scary is that people themselves haven't changed. We've got the same brains and reflexes they had in the '20s; we just employ them differently. So now, with more options everywhere, attention spans are shorter and minds are free to wander. There's at least 10x more traffic; cars have distracting touchscreen displays and entertainment systems; drivers are too relaxed because their vehicle is doing all the hard work, and they're too busy playing with toys, cup-holders and mobile phones to pay enough attention to the road. No wonder the rich employed chauffeurs. And no wonder driving gloves were such a popular Christmas present back then. Driving was so coarse, common, ghastly, beastly and laborious, what? 🤭

The basic motoring formula. :D

We've had a hundred years to insulate ourselves from the miracle that travelling one mile a minute actually is. This is a car to drive to remind you of that miracle, and how bananas it was to drive in a world where the roads were cobblestone if they were paved at all.

12:28 very few cars manage to make you make that sound in about 30 mph. love the rarity! love the klaxon. my dream car will have that too!

The early Reliants took a lot of inspiration from the Austin 7 - obviously a *lot* of changes happened over the years but I still can't look at the simpleness of my 97 mk2 Robin without remembering it A7 roots!

Class looking motor! Looks a lot like Brum from the children's tv series.

This is alarmingly familiar stuff! I actually learned on a very similar Austin 7 biscuit box saloon, 1926 model. My grandfather lent me his 1950 Austin Devon estate to take my test, as he (and we) thought the little Austin might frighten the examiner!

In motoring terms, it’s from an era where cars and motorcycles seem way closer than they are today. Very visceral drive!

My grandfather used to have a seven back in the 1930’s. He never took a test and learnt to drive on a model T with a hand throttle. His last car was a Riley 1500 which he drove up to 2 weeks before he passed away aged 86. He never relied on his brakes, it was always slowed down with the gears. An obvious lesson from his early days driving the Model T and Austin Seven. In the bad winter of 1947 he put his car in the ditch near Quatt in Shropshire. To get it out he loosened the plugs and wound it out in reverse gear with the starting handle. Simpler cars and more fun to drive.

i love to imagine driving past someone in an austin 7 and just hearing them scream "oh gosh oh no aaa it's bouncy" that would be hilarious

We have have an Austin Seven Utility/Pickup in a million pieces in my dad’s garage. It’s been a “one of these days” project my whole life

What an adorable happy little car!

I do 6000 miles a year or thereabouts in a 60 year old Landy that is my daily transport. Hats off to your man doing five in a 1925 motor. A green footprint the size of Wales boy!

Lovely car. Colin brought it to show me this summer.

Such a little basic car full of character. That toyota driver behind on those 2 junctions where engine cut out was so patient. Properly enjoying seeing a car you never really see on the road. These little cars built before health and safety. Looks scary and fun at same time 😃

Within seconds of the video you can ‘smell’ the car…perfect!❤

Brilliant, interesting video. Back in 1975 in Farnham Central carpark, an older man parked a saloon version of this little Austin with the headlamps up by the windscreen, I spoke to him and said "what a lovely cute Austin " "how long have you owned it"? He replied in a grumpy tone of voice " fifty years" " its my first car and it will be my last" so I assumed he had owned it since 1925. So I said to him that it was lovely to see and walked away. He was most probably fed up with people asking him about it all the time. But for me a great memory to have of an Austin 7 box saloon with its grumpy owner lol 😂 also 20yrs ago on a weekend classic car event Devon way. At the petrol station a farming woman going by her attire pulled onto the forecourt in an open top Austin 7 she had live chickens in a wooden cage on the back seat. The car was her workhorse all muddy etc. I never spoke not after the grumpy owner previously lol 😂

Every time I see one I instantly think of Brum

My family had a 1937 Austin 7 in the late 1950s. We drove all the way from Cheshire to Dartford and back in it in 1960. Magic. It was FXV270 just in case its still around.

My parents' first car was an -Austin 7 and they would drive from Surrey, where I was born, to visit the in-laws in Manchester. I now have even more respect for doing that journey.

Great review, Ian. I'm getting strong James Herriot vibes with this one having read the books and then watched the TV series as a youngster. At least you're not driving through the dales on a cold wet night to help a cow deliver her calf! Or doing 'driverless car' imaitations.

Drove a 20's Lanchester for just over a mile, that was all over the place and terrifying, decades later still remember it in detail.

My first cat was a 1930 Chevrolet. Awesome problem-free car. Much better than the austin but love the simplicity of these grand daddy of cars. Thanks for showing.

That was the best video I saw this week. What a joy. Couldn't stop laughing at your expressions while you were driving it.

This is why I love HubNut 👍🥰

Bruce McLaren started his racing career in an Austin Seven Ulster. And that was in 1952. Bruce is still my hero. And a really nice person.

Great video, loved the short glimpse of the railway doings, a the foot of that steep hill. 👍