Austin 7 Ruby Special

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Back in the 1950s, cars were scarce and expensive – even second hand. For many, the only route to a bit of glamour was to build your own, many taking shape around the ubiquitous Austin 7.

Thanks to its simple chassis and plentiful supply, a whole industry evolved, selling ‘off the peg’ bodies which would transform your rusty £5 Austin into a ‘lookalike’ pre-war MG, or thanks to the new craze in fibreglass, a mini Frazer-Nash Sebring – well, from a distance anyway...

By the 1960s, the supply of donor vehicles had started to dry up, with remaining Austin 7s being snapped up for restoration rather than conversion. Their place in history is significant though, with Austin 7 Specials forming the launch pad for none other than TVR, McLaren and Lotus, while today they still provide enormous fun on the road, 45mph feeling more like 100mph in a modern car.

This 1937 Special was purchased by the vendor as a project to complete over the summer. Almost immediately, another more enticing proposition found its way into his garage so the little Austin is now up for grabs.

According to the logbook, it was registered in April 1937 as a Ruby saloon and has been converted sometime in the recent past into the boat-tailed sports you see here. Much thought has gone into the V-screen, dashboard and wood framed body, the car coming with most of an engine, radiator and transmission. Being Austin 7 based, those items which are missing will be readily available at surprisingly reasonable cost.

Obviously requiring a fair degree of work to complete, we can see where they were going with the idea, which will no doubt provide its new owner with many happy hours of fiddling in the shed to bring it to fruition.