The RX-8

The old Austin 7 keeps
on going and going...
The 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. The 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. The
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. The 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.
The IW Austin 7 club is good fun, with about
14 enthusiasts meeting every Sunday at The
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