"Bertie" the Austin Seven

The photos below were taken by a friend of mine when he attended an open garden day. The vehicle is owned by a gentleman who uses the vehicle as his regular day car.

Hi, my name is "Bertie". I am an Austin Big Seven built in 1938 in the UK. I was first registered to a doctor in Christchurch, New Zealand, who kept me for 30 years.

I moved to Australia in 1988 and have just been restored by my new owner after sitting in a garage unused for 15 years. I am now one of about 1,000 roadworthy examples left worldwide. Cars like me were only made between 1938 and 1939, just before the Second World War. The factory was used during the war years to build Lancaster bombers.

I am a deluxe four seater model with two doors and a sunroof and was called a "forlite" because of my four side windows. The four door model had 6 windows and was called a "sixlite". I have a 900cc 18kw 4 cylinder engine with four forward gears and reverse (synchromesh on 2nd, 3rd and 4th). I have drum brakes on all four wheels that are cable operated.

When new, my top speed was about 90kph, but I now like to cruise at about 70kph and can just manage 30kph up step hills in second gear.

My price when new with sunroof was 139 pounds or $237 at today's prices.