1927 Austin 7 "Chummy"

Originally bought as parts for the restoration of the 1929 Austin 7 (pictured further down the page)  Once it was delivered, we just had to save it, it is just too cute to part out.  Although it was in really bad appearance, Mechanically it was very sound.  It was brought over from England in the 1960's by a wealthy collector in Georgia.  It seems like it was fully restored at that time but since then it sat in a damp humid building lost and forgotten for many years.  By the time we bought it, the floor had rusted out and had mostly been replaced with walnut casings.  The paint was faded and cracked and the interior was completely ruined.

A complete frame up restoration was started last winter.  What was left of the body was removed and a new floor was custom made.  There was hardly even enough left of the original for a pattern.  The Running Boards and Fenders looked like Swiss cheese after sandblasting and a complete new interior has been tailored.

The engine, transmission and rear end were rebuilt but did not show any amount of wear and tear.  The chassis and frame were much like the drive line.  It even seemed like the king pins and ball ends were brand new from the 1960 overhaul.  The radiator was not so lucky, it resembled the rotted out floor.  I could not find a reasonable replacement radiator and ended up having one custom made in England.  Very expensive but it came out very nice.

Over the summer it was out to the body and paint shop. 

Over the past winter and spring the final assembly, wiring and interior have been completed.

And at long last our Chummy is complete

1928 Austin 7 "Chummy"

Again, searching the internet for parts to do the restoration of the 1927 Austin 7 Chummy (pictured Above), we ran across this one and just had to save it.  The Plan for this one will be to build a body in the Van style that was available and based off of this model.  This Chummy spent many years sitting in a backyard as part of a forgotten private collection in South Carolina.  This little car has not held up very well.  There will not be much of the original body work that could be saved, making this one a good candidate for a new custom body and a frame up restoration.

From this...  To this...

1929 Austin Seven

My Father had one of these cars when I was a kid, During WWII. It has 10 Hp from a 4 cylinder engine and resembles a 2/3 sized Model A.  It has an aluminum body and weighs 1200 lbs.  Frame and Body work were started winter of 2003.  Alfie is finished and made several appearances at the local car shows.  Everyone always seams to walk away with a smile on their face after seeing this cute little car amongst all the big 70's muscle cars.