MOTORING 68 Island Life - www.islandlifemagazine.net
<strong>The</strong> old Austin 7 keeps on going and going... <strong>The</strong> IW Austin Owners Club was formed in 1986, when founder Viv Orchard decided there were enough owners of the famous motor on the Island to form an association. We asked Nigel Offer, a member of the club and the owner of the featured Austin 7 – “Where do people find these old cars?” “Well most Austins, believe it or not, are discovered in old barns, where they have often been covered up and left unused for many years. Even today I guess that there may be some Austin 7’s that have still not been discovered on the Island, even though we have found plenty of them already.” “For instance, my Austin was discovered by pure chance in a garage in Brading. It had not been used since the 1970’s. After buying it, I spent the next two years restoring it at weekends, spending every possible minute in the garage - much to my wife’s dismay...” It can also be interesting to do a little research into the previous owners. Nigel’s Austin was owned in the 1950’s by an American airman based at Greenham Common, who then sold it to a Sheila Bartlett who came from Newbury. Sheila, who last saw the car in the 1950’s, sold it for £14 10s. In an ironic twist, this same Sheila ended up doing the Centenary London to Brighton run with Nigel in the Austin 7 that she owned back in the 50’s. <strong>The</strong> driver who Nigel bought the car from had purchased it from a man who ran a caravan business in Middlesex. Old Austins are fairly cheap to buy, although the buying price has to be offset against the enormous amount of time, money and labour that can go into restoring them. <strong>The</strong> dedication can pay off, though, as a properly restored Austin 7 can fetch up to £7,000. If you’re lucky enough to come across an old Austin hidden in a barn, then the best place to start looking for parts would be the Island Life - www.islandlifemagazine.net Beaulieu Auto Jumble, in July which includes a special Austin weekend, offering virtually every part you’d need to build an Austin from scratch. IW residents are also lucky to have the Austin 7 Workshop, which is a great source of help. As Nigel points out, another advantage of owning an Austin 7 is that there’s no need for road tax, and the insurance is cheap, (in some cases only £50 per year, which includes breakdown). However – prepare for a bit of waiting around at MoT time. <strong>The</strong> modern MoT allows 40 min to carry out the test process, and the garage cannot log out of the system before this time – but because the Austin is so simple, it takes only around 20minutes, so you have some time to hang around. If you are looking at buying a classic car then the Austin 7 is probably the cheapest to keep on the road. MOTORING We recently caught up with Nigel Offer and his cherished Austin 7. This sturdy but genteel little motor has a unique charm about it, reminiscent of days gone by, when driving was a pleasure and the pace of life was rather more sedate. Nigel has lovingly restored his Austin, and reckons it’s probably more pampered than his wife. We find out what the attraction is of these old cars from a bygone age. <strong>The</strong> IW Austin 7 club is good fun, with about 14 enthusiasts meeting every Sunday at <strong>The</strong> Old Smithy car park in Godshill. Visitors from the mainland who are over on holiday often drop in too, for the chance of seeing an Austin pull into Godshill that they haven’t seen before. If you would like to explore the possibility of becoming an Austin 7 owner, then your first port of call would be Nigel, who can be contacted on 01983 872609 or e-mail nigel.offer@virgin.net 69
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