How to Drive an AUSTIN 7 [w/ StarterMotor]

Рет қаралды 91,917

Күн бұрын

With thanks to the StarterMotor Charity, once again we are getting behind the wheel of a pretty special car! This time it's a 1920s Austin 7.
This year marks the 100th birthday of the Austin 7 and so we're getting a little taste of what it was like to use one...until it goes a little wrong...
Thanks to The Heritage Skills academy for giving us a quick lesson prior to filming, and Bicester Heritage for allowing us to film for the afternoon. Here are the links to all the businesses mentioned in this video.
StarterMotor Charity: startermotor.co
Heritage Skills Academy: www.heritageskillsacademy.co.uk
Bicester Heritage: bicesterheritage.co.uk
Harry Fraser Upholstery: www.harryfraservehicleupholst...
Classic Performance Engineering: www.classicperformanceengineer...
♪ Wine (Prod. by Lukrembo)
Link : • lukrembo - wine (royal...
The static video footage can be found at • TV Static and Color Ba...

Пікірлер: 178

@MrGreenwoodlad 2 жыл бұрын

stick with it lads love the channel ... this is how Clarkson, May and Hammond started , but you are quirky, different ....you're gonna be a hit . young, british old fashioned ...love it .

@JonosBtheMC Жыл бұрын

Well said. At 2:14 I was reminded of "my car is on fire, but in a very specific place". I'd rather own one of these than a Lancia Beta Coupe though!

@savage22bolt32 Жыл бұрын

Constructive criticism: lose the background noise! The subject & your narration of it is great. The addition of distracting, monotonous & annoying tinkling piano ruined the vid for me.

@Maniacguy2777 Жыл бұрын

Hammonnnnnnnnd????????lol

@user-gi2cz8jt6w Жыл бұрын

@@savage22bolt32 Here is a little car I saw in the mid-60s in Vinnitsa in Ukraine on the go. As I understood from a conversation with the driver (he was also the owner), this one was once taken out of Germany as a trophy.

@savage22bolt32 Жыл бұрын

@@user-gi2cz8jt6w you remember the 60's !?!?! The Austin 7 really is a cute little car. My mom had a Crosley & my dad had an MG-TD, but in the 50's before I was born!

@bladder1010 Жыл бұрын

What a nice little car. Interesting to see some younger car enthusiasts impressions. Great video!

@user-gi2cz8jt6w Жыл бұрын

Here is a little car I saw in the mid-60s in Vinnitsa in Ukraine on the go. As I understood from a conversation with the driver (he was also the owner), this one was once taken out of Germany as a trophy.

@jamesmoore9511 Жыл бұрын

Shift pattern is a simple mirror image of the column shift on all USA cars in the 50's 60's 70's etc. Love to have one. The sound is the cut of the gears (straight cut or helical cut).

@kkteutsch6416 Жыл бұрын

I'll make a comment about the gears used at the gearbox, it makes a so special noise, as if they are " crying "...

@joegoodman4312 Жыл бұрын

This is a very encouraging and refreshing video. To all those old farts who worry that love for old cars and ways will die out with their generation, fear not, chaps like these are out there and are championing our halcyon ways of motoring. Bravo boys! Lots more please.

@2wheelhoon813 Жыл бұрын

These clowns do not represent our generation. Neither of them have even the slightest clue. Kid is destroying the trans shifting like that. It's unsincronised and like he said the clutch drags. Double clutch and shit slow. Maybe rev match. I promise you you can drive that car without filling the gearbox sump with glitter

@user-gi2cz8jt6w Жыл бұрын

@Roger.Coleman1949 2 жыл бұрын

Had an idential ' 28 'Top Hat' saloon , a good effort lads but you should ' double de-clutch ' which would be kinder when changing gear - it has a ' crash ' gearbox - no synchromesh .Changing down to 2nd is slightly more complicated , you ' blip ' the throttle at the same time as double - declutching and you will get a silent change !.

@asciimation 2 жыл бұрын

Great little cars Austin 7s. A few quirks other than the gearbox. Clutch is, as you say, like a button, on or off, but not tricky once you get the hang of it. Because of the A Frame chassis and the cantilevered rear springs you do get a bit of a rear wheel steering affect as you corner. The body rolls, the outside spring lengthens pushing that side of the rear axle back and you get an extra turning effect. The right hand lever on the steering wheel is just a throttle, just the same as the accelerator pedal. The other lever is usually manual advance for the timing. And with the scuttle fuel tank you have to be careful when the fuel level is really low. When you go up a steep hill the fuel moves away from the outlet pipe which is on the front of the tank as you pointed out and the car conks out. Learnt that one from practical experience!

@kkteutsch6416 Жыл бұрын

5 speed gears ? With a mere 800 CC engine ?

@asciimation Жыл бұрын

@@kkteutsch6416 3 on the early ones and 4 on the later ones (not counting reverse).

@kkteutsch6416 Жыл бұрын

A friend of mine had an A 40 Austin about 50 years ago and I used to take a ride with it - no driving it - and one of my ceased brothers had 2 Hillman - a 1952 sedan and another more aged - to donate parts - and he owned it for many years, it seems to me the engine of both - Austin and Hillman - are almost the same, about 800 cm3 of displacement... The gear box of Hillmann were of 3 and 4 speed each one and he swapped them... A 1952 it seems to me stays at a city near of mine, in order to be hauled....

@kkteutsch6416 Жыл бұрын

@@asciimation ok, I saw the inscription on the top gear axle and I made some mistake

@asciimation Жыл бұрын

@@kkteutsch6416 To further confuse things some gear box tops were marked with 'SYN' or '2SYN'. SYN meaning they had synchros on 3/4 and 2SYN came about when they also added synchro to 2nd gear.

@guyjobling1452 2 жыл бұрын

I'm sure you've learnt how to double declutch by now....! Great to see you guys enjoying Austin 7s, I learnt to drive on a 1933 Austin 10, in 1998.

@ModelARickLasCruces Жыл бұрын

Enjoyed your video. I am 79 years old and drive a 1931 Model A Ford which I've owned for over 50 years. It's amazing how similar the Austin 7 is to my Ford; the engine sounds just like mine! And the same shift pattern. Glad young lads like you are interested in the veteran cars. Drive on!

@kkteutsch6416 Жыл бұрын

It seems to me flat head engines - and the compression ratio - makes a different sound than ohc and syncro belt drive than geared distribution timing system... If I hear a GM - original engine - or a Volkswagen as air coooled flat four or liquid cooled ones mades a noise totally different one to others...

@jbenekeorr Жыл бұрын

This just came up in my recommended videos. Thoroughly enjoyable! And how brilliant that these cars are being allowed out to be enjoyed. Especially to drivers on the younger side. Subscribed!

@advohelp Жыл бұрын

Hi from Russia. It's a nice small car. And it's impressive that smb is keeping it in good condition and everyday working state. Also, it's nice that smb gave it to those young men. So, it's not much educative or historical, but nice entertaining video. Thanks for it.

@chrispomphrett4283 Жыл бұрын

Very interesting. Please drop that music noise loop in the background. You don't need that.

@vitordornelles Жыл бұрын

Wonderful channel, lads! Keep up the good work!

@ronholfly Жыл бұрын

Beautiful little car, my dad had an exact same year model of this Austin 7 he purchased it in 1947.I remember him taking the engine out and putting it on the bench to do the tappets and fit new piston rings, his trade was an engineer so he practically took it to pieces and rebuilt it. We toured Wales, Cornwall and regular trips to New Brighton across the Mersey from Liverpool, Happy days nice to see the model again in your video.

@piccalillipit9211 Жыл бұрын

*FANTASTIC FORMAT* loved it guys - you got a sub...!!!

@stanbest3743 2 жыл бұрын

Brilliant to see that these cars will go on being appreciated and enjoyed in the future. Usually any weak points in the original design are well understood now and a solution is available. Personally as long as the cars character doesn't change I'm in favour of reliability.

@chinabluewho Жыл бұрын

I am old enough that I used to stock shelves with a cream white paste that you would rub onto the stick to check the fluid levels as the paste would turn red when in contact with the fuel, up until the 80's you could regularly see this past for sale as many of the VWs didn't have fuel gages. A lot of old tractors were the same with a wooden measuring stick.

@MrGaryGG48 Жыл бұрын

I've never seen this "cream white paste" but maybe that's an English thing. That "wooden measuring stick" though, is out in the barn and it always works, the batteries never die, and the warning lights never fail! That old John Deere tractor just keeps working. 🤣 I spend a bit of time in England in the early '60s but never came across an Austin 7. From much of what I've read about the English car history, the Austin 7 was a serious mainstay of the industry. It's tiny, it's slow, it's really simple, but because of most of those "features" it was realistically within reach of much of the population when horses were the most common mode of transportation. My grandfather and my father worked the family farm in Northwestern Washington State, in the U.S., in the 1930s, with a draft horse and the transportation off the farm was a Ford Model T. From what I've read, the Austin 7 was essentially the English Model T. I've always found history fascinating, whether it's motorcycles, cars, trucks or aircraft. These old machines brought us to where we are and what we drive, ride, or fly now. I'm really enjoying these two young men showing an interest in that history. I'm looking forward to your next video...

@daveleighton4683 Жыл бұрын

That whine is the sound of the straight cut gears of a crash box.

@davidrobertson376 Жыл бұрын

Dads 1950s Austin truck gearbox sounded the same

@garryentropy Жыл бұрын

good video, the background elevator music is a bit much though

@GiguereSylvain 2 жыл бұрын

I'm so glad that you, younger guys get an interest into those old things.. I drove the Minis in the 70's I love those brits mechanics. So different than our american stuff. Keep on exploring. Great!

@tonytaylor9382 Жыл бұрын

My Gran had an Austin 7 in Ndola, Zambia. She would lend it to the local technical college where the students for their practical exam would have to take it apart completely and then put everything back together.

@Rogerjoselyn 10 ай бұрын

I am very impressed with the young people of this era. Positive with good humour and very interesting!

@davidaustin2172 Жыл бұрын

No, the gearbox shouldn’t make that noise, you double de clutch to match the gear speed of the gear shafts. My Ford had a similar gear box, never crunched a gear! That’s why you eventually seized the gear box, two gears selected at once!

@human_error1 Жыл бұрын

I was randomly recommended this video and I actually really enjoyed it. Keep it up!

@johncartwright8154 Жыл бұрын

My wife's father and his new wife used one of these (1934 model year) for their honeymoon to Switzerland. In February 1952 and he was six foot four Army Captain! (193cm for you younger types! No heater or windscreen wipers. My Mother-in-Law trying to keep the iced windscreen clear with bare hand as they crossed the Brenner Pass in a snowstorm. Getting the narrow wheels stuck in tram tracks in Zurich. But even in those harsh winter conditions, it didn't let them down.

@wossisname4540 Жыл бұрын

Be brave, be loyal, resist the propaganda -- don't resort to French measurements! Make the blighters learn feet and inches; far more fun.

@mrbigfellanz Жыл бұрын

These two are the sort of people that classic and vintage cars need. Interested and a sense of humor. Gentlemen you'll be "greybeards" before you know it.

@CanadianWaterfowler Жыл бұрын

This whole thing that Heritage Skills and StarterMotor do, it's a fantastic idea! I'm really impressed! Kudos!

@jordomayor5224 Жыл бұрын

Super show thanks for sharing and keep up the great work

@cross13000 Жыл бұрын

Loved it good one lads.

@19blondmoshhead95 2 жыл бұрын

love the vids lads keep em coming 😝

@MartiA1973 Жыл бұрын

Love the honesty and a bit of tech. Had to sub.

@Yanmotion Жыл бұрын

Austin 7 has always been my favourite car since I was little, I even dreaming of owning one someday!

@Kellysg126 Жыл бұрын

Absolutely brilliant channel

@mariobmf2381 Жыл бұрын

Amanzing!! So stunning car! 👏

@stephaniekinloch9094 Жыл бұрын

🇦🇺 my parents use to tell us how in the early part of their relationship, they helped out with the scouts. This meant they carried 21 people in their Austin 7 - in one run! Those were the days. 😁

@stantonwright4275 11 ай бұрын

This is my Grandpa’s car!! ..and I can confirm it is in fact a 1929 Austin 7! 🤓👍🏼 Hope you enjoyed it testing it out!

@cawfeedawg Жыл бұрын

Good job lads.

@bobbeck5866 Жыл бұрын

I had one of those in 1958, Reg No OD 1010. it cost me £19.10.00. It was first registered on 29th. December 1929. Fuel was gravity fed and the gauge was a brass dip stick. If you were low on petrol and on a steep hill the engine stalled due to fuel drought. Oh how I wish I had it now.

@crazyjoe1540 Жыл бұрын

never hit subscribe so fast in my life, cheers dudes this was awesome

@andrewdeacon7051 2 жыл бұрын

just love your shows

@stephenvoller1423 2 жыл бұрын

Stick with it lads, geat video, and please update us on this car.

@IrfanKhanowaisi77 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for sharing your experience with us! Love from Pakistan.

@PRH123 Жыл бұрын

Awesome minimalist vehicle, ala 2cv. About the size of a smart car, yet 4 passengers. 40 MPG at that time, wow...! Sustainable wood used in the construction. These were ahead of their time. An e-austin, that would be interesting...

@RWBHere 2 жыл бұрын

Subscribed upon finding this video, and your channel, after watching a Hubnut video Thanks guys. 🙂👍

@theobster Жыл бұрын

7’s are fun, I had a gearbox issue driving my friends. I lost drive completely, some of the gears are locked to the gearbox shafts with these, I had managed to shear one off!

@Ceto-wo7kw Жыл бұрын

i so love this engine sounds

@garysmith1156 2 жыл бұрын

What a awesome car lads I love it dose it smell lovely and old ?

@alexandervanwyk7669 Жыл бұрын

My first car was a 1930 Chevrolet. Wonderful no problem vehicle. Those were the days. Love from Africa.

@occoppo 2 жыл бұрын

What a cliff-hanger, I'll be interested to see what happened !

@gavinmillar7519 Жыл бұрын

No part two yet?

@Hashiriya985 Жыл бұрын

i would love to get my hands in one of those! greetings from Brazil!

@increiblepelotudo Жыл бұрын

I want to drive an old car sooo badly. Here in USA-ville, we can get a Model T for not a ton of $, I live in Manhattan, and it would be just insane, but I bet I would never have a single day without speaking with people about the car. Also, cars that just reaching 25 MPH would feel like you're doing 150 MPH - that is so thrilling!

@simongee8928 Жыл бұрын

As a hangover from when I began driving HGVs in the early 70s when synchro gearboxes weren't that common, I still instinctively double declutch now in certain situations. 🤣

@skizzysmith1146 Жыл бұрын

it's called double de clutching, it sunchronizes the engine speed to the gearbox, thus preventing those nasty clunks and chatters that idiot drivers get when changing gear. However, it takes more than a short drive to wreck a gearbox, so it's certain that it was faulty before you drove it. One good thing with an Austin 7, is that you are always at the front of the queue.

@peteacher52 Жыл бұрын

My parents married in 1946. For the next three years their car was an already clapped out1927 Austin 7. But with my arrival in '47, the car was too small and too slow. So they drove from Auckland to Dannevirke @ 22 mph, taking four days, to visit my grandfather who had the Jowett agency in that town. So the return trip to Auckland was in a near-new Bradford wagon. Some tears were shed for "Edgar" but he soon became just a memory and even in his sketchy condition, he would have re-sold very quickly because of post-WW2 shortages of just about everything.

@Jack-pu4rf 10 ай бұрын

The car is very small but with a big presence, well done with the commentary

@vancetrella1330 Жыл бұрын

Can we get the other parts? Love you style of vid

@selectingneutral Жыл бұрын

The car itself is still in bits! We will catch up with it in some form when it’s ready but we have moved on with Austin 7’s. Check out or latest for a slightly spicier one😊

@nikdog419 Жыл бұрын

The "It sounds like high revs but we're told it's not" is because straight cut gears. At least it sounds like straight cut gears to me. Most cars before Air Conditioning were equipped with "Vents" :P Both the pickup truck I have now and the one before that have/had one. My mum's 1989 Plymouth Horizon (based on the mk1 Golf) had it as well. Pretty much standard on 1980s and earlier cars. I tease because you never once called it a vent, and I grew up opening and closing the vent labelled handle for my dad.

@RobinTheMini 2 жыл бұрын

I loved this video the most

@selectingneutral 2 жыл бұрын

I think it might be our favourite as well😂

@ChuckSannel Жыл бұрын

Gotta love Straight cut gears!

@jensschroder8214 Жыл бұрын

In 1927 BMW imported maybe 50 Austin 7s and sold them with right hand steering wheel in Germany as Dixi 3/15. In 1928 - 29 BMW built licensed buildings with the steering wheel on the left under the name Dixi 3/15 DA. From around 1930 BMW continued to build modified versions of the Dixi. After the war, the Eisennach plant becomes EMW and produces the Wartburg. Although the body looks modern, the frame of the vehicle is reminiscent of the Dixi or A7. In 1991 the plant is closed. The Austin Mini becomes a legend. In 2001, BMW began relaunching the Mini as its own brand.

@bruceburns1672 11 ай бұрын

Are parts available for motor, gearbox, differential, or anything for that matter. ???????

@JonosBtheMC Жыл бұрын

4:14 If my memory hasn't faded, the Commer FC had a similar "backward" layout, but with 4 speeds. The handbrake worked on the front wheels on those too! I want one. Can any kind person tell me what it runs on, now that E5 is going the same way as 2-5 Star leaded? I heard somewhere that a paraffin mixture won't get you in trouble with the tax people anymore, but I'd rather not have to mix my own...

@stephenclemerson Жыл бұрын

Stable fuel, leaded or unleaded, is available in cans. It’s not cheap but most of these cars don’t do many miles. I get mine from the lawnmower dealership

@Brandtalones Жыл бұрын

Um, so how exactly does that fuel gauge work?

@roydavidlivermore4664 9 ай бұрын

Had the Austin 7 Ruby saloon from 1954 until 1957.

@stuartholden6163 Жыл бұрын

Roald Dalh talks about one of these in Danny Champion of the world, but I believe it was a 30s model

@WitchKing-Of-Angmar Жыл бұрын

Interior looks spacious however. I couldn't imagine HOWEVER, comparing this to something like a 1913 Pierce arrow, or a 1925 Nash eight sedan...or frankly most American sedans. If you've been next to one, you know the vast difference between size.

@stephenwinter8892 Жыл бұрын

Greetings from southern Ontario Canada I really enjoyed the video my family owns a Austin 7 been in the family for 45 years I drive it every Sunday to the grocery store and place signs in the window DONOT TOUCH unless the owner is present thanks for the presentation

@selectingneutral Жыл бұрын

Love it!!

@pisstinpete4700 Жыл бұрын

Last time I saw one on the road there was a line of traffic 2 km long behind it

@Goncalves50 Жыл бұрын

Just watched Romantic Road on NETFLIX, an epic drive across rural India in a battered 1936 Rolls-Royce - Struck by similarity of Austin 7, a "Mini-Me" of the 1936 Rolls-Royce

@SingerDriver Жыл бұрын

Please give us a demonstration of how to double declutch changing up and down. There is no synchromesh on a crash gearbox so a different technique is used. You don't want to damage that gearbox

@colibri67 Жыл бұрын

"Crashing" the gear changes can't help matters. As someone has already suggested, double declutching allows gear speeds to match better when shifting. There was no synchromesh in most gearboxes back then.

@AdrianJayeOnline Жыл бұрын

there is only one choke the thing on the wheel is the timing/dwell angle

@AdrianJayeOnline Жыл бұрын

fuel cutoff switch and battery are great anti-theft devices

@Antonio-pj1vt 2 жыл бұрын

Molto bella.

@andreaskurt1 Жыл бұрын

Good fun for you. However, the last thing I would do is letting you drive one of my old cars.

@milindjoshi4085 Жыл бұрын

My cousin in Pune near Mumbai Mhaharashtra India owns 2 Austin 7 cars ,,,one just like yours n another white convertible

@donrico5122 Жыл бұрын

selected reverse by mistake & locked up the box ?

@r1n8k Жыл бұрын

If I get Circumsised, Where will I keep my Smegma?

@alexhilberts2666 Жыл бұрын

Hey guys great content in the video. From a video perspective though, Try to keep you're shots less VLOG like and slightly more documentary with specific angles and shots etc. It will help organise your video and communicate with the viewer clearer. Again, loved the content.

@scottcoe2633 2 жыл бұрын

Don't forget to double declutch guys

@hutchcraftcp Жыл бұрын

Double declutching would make the gear changes smoother

@carllinden533 Жыл бұрын

A Trabant 601 is just like this! Except you can only coast in 4th gear

@paulgeraghty1448 2 ай бұрын

Gas? On the steering wheel?

@xeric1953 Жыл бұрын

I bought one last year but i've got a mechanic swapping the engine, giving it power steering and a few other nifly features. I like the look of the car but not constantly tinkering and fixing old engine parts

@Alex87826 2 жыл бұрын

Nice of see the old ATC tower

@edwardhalpin7503 Жыл бұрын

What a lovely ol' girl, too bad we never see them in the U.S.

@user-gi2cz8jt6w Жыл бұрын

Вот такой автомобильчик я середине 60-ых годов видел в г. Виннице на Украине на ходу. Как я понял из разговора с водителем (он же был и владельцем) этот в свое время был им вывезен из Германии в качестве трофея. Here is a little car I saw in the mid-60s in Vinnitsa in Ukraine on the go. As I understood from a conversation with the driver (he was also the owner), this one was once taken out of Germany as a trophy.

@REPOMAN24722 Жыл бұрын

I am sure that noise is because it has no synchromesh on any gear and that is why it died.

@garymiles484 Жыл бұрын

It's a good job Clarkson, Hammond and May didn't get their hands on it. They probably would have taken it into their workshop and after a while finally stick a RS badge on it.