Car, motor car

The first Austin 7 rolled off the production line at the Longbridge car plant on the 21 July 1922. The Austin 7 was first displayed to the public at the Olympia Motor Show in London that year. The car's designer and company founder, Herbert Austin, described it as a 'small family car within reach of modest purses...it offers a comfortable type of body capable of enclosure against bad weather...it combines a lively road performance with an all-round smoothness of running and a feeling of safe stability.'

Austin marketed the 7 as an affordable family car at a time when the company faced stiff competition from rival manufacturers Morris and Ford. Austin was one of only two British car manufacturers (the other being Crossley of Manchester) to be exhibited at the Berlin Motor Show in 1935. Herbert Austin showed Adolf Hitler the Austin 7 shortly before the dictator announced the creation of the 'Volkswagen' (People's Car) at the show.

This is a Type EB 'Nippy', a two-seater sports model of the Austin 7 which went into production in 1934. It would have retailed for around £112 in 1935 when this car was sold. The body of the 'Nippy' is virtually identical to the 1933 Type 65 with the exception that the body panelling was made of pressed steel in the later model. Production of the 'Nippy' at Longbridge ceased in February 1937. The Austin 7 marque itself was discontinued in 1939. This particular car was originally registered in Devon in 1935. After undergoing restoration, including an engine replacement, the car entered the ownership of a Londoner who donated it to the Museum of London in 2002.