Motoring The Baby Austin Jr can, I suppose, be assumed
that, so far as this country is concerned, the 7 h.p. Austin is the most famous car in the world. Naturally that does not mean.. that- it is the best ; it only means that it is unique among the best known. Ever since the first one was made, at once christened the Baby Austin, it has had rivals innumerable in size and price but, so far as I know, no imitators. The entire engine and chassis are, I understand, covered by very definite patents, and while no infringement has been attempted, no radical change in design has yet been made or ii likely to be made. The earlier models had three speeds and the litter have four, and I believe that, with a small increase in length, is the only modification worth mentioning. It retains its special suspension and its remarkable engine, and all other departures from the original plan relate only to the natural improvements.
I imagine that I am on safe ground when I say that very few cars of any sort have had such .a history as this child of Sir Herbert Austin's peculiar and special invention. Like all cars it has had its ups and downs, its bad years and its good years, but it has enjoyed a consistent success that might well be envied by any car of any price. It is built in enormous numbers in this country and, under licence and different names, in others. It has been rebuilt as a racing car and won I have forgotten how many gruelling races on the track, beating some of the word's fastest cars (on handicap) and putting up fantastic speeds. In that shape it has, naturally, borne no resemblance to the one you buy in the shop and meet in thousands on the road, but the machine that lapped at 80 or 90 miles an hour had in it the germ of the tiny family car that began life in a burst of good-natured chaff and has lived since to be highly respected by the most criticial motoring public.
Comparison with Lizzie the Ford at once suggests itself, but there is none in reality. Lizzie was perhaps as famous in her own way and certainly lived- to make imperishable his- tory in the War, which she is said (by anyone who had anything to do with her) to have won. But Lizzie was not of so general an appeal. She was an astonishing success in a .Special glass. She was unlike any other car in design and build and, unlike any other at that time, she never changed from year to year. It was said of her maker that he offered you the choice of any colour you liked, free of charge, provided it was a nice black. You took her or left her. She had a transmission that was the wonder of her age, offending against all the proper prejudices of the English motorists, but exactly suited to the purpose. Never was there a car so all-of-a-piece as Lizzie and there is little doubt that it was the inviolability of her design that brought her fame.
She thrived on jests. They rivalled in number and far exceeded in variety those about Miss Mae West. Most of them were of a smiling malice that would have killed anything less tough than Lizzie, but when they had gone the rounds and everybody had heard and repeated them a thousand times they returned to roost, not like curses, but as the finest adver- tisements. Lizzie did none of the things she was accused of doing in these stories, and in the end she gained a reputation for dependability that may have surprised even her maker. Seeing Lizzie built in her own home at Detroit in twenty-five minutes, from lifeless lumps of metal to a moving car, is one of my most precious memories.
There are no jests about the little Austin, or if there are I have -not heard them. It is extraordinary that there is not a volume of them, for the main reward of such celebrity is invariably a crop of stories. It is a sort of proof of attach- ment, but it may be that affection of this kind flourishes best in the United States and that we take our emotions more sadly. Besides, Lizzie was, if not a mechanical joke, at least an oddity. The Austin is a serious motor-car.
It is my conviction that the Austin 7 is so inextricable a part of the general life of this country that most people know very little about it. They know that it goes for years and years and that it has changed only in price and body- work since it was first made, but the details that are closely studied in every other car are largely ignored by the majority. I doubt if they even realise (or care) that it is the lowest- powered car on the market, if not in the world. Now I come to think of it stories are told of it, but they are of the wrong kind.. There are misguided enthusiasts who tell you that an Austin 7 will average some perfectly impossible speed, cruise at 50 miles an hour, afford luxurious accommodation to four adults, and generally give you for .E120 or so what you do not always get for three times the money. They are no friends of the most famous car in the world, but I daresay they live in an agreeable deception. The Austin 7 is one of the most efficient cars made, but it is not one of the fastest nor one of the most luxurious. It is still a very small and therefore economical car, which is what it is meant to be. On the whole I should regard it as one of the three cheapest In the world, using the word cheap in its real sense.
The tiny four-cylinder engine has a bore and stroke of 56 by 76, or—to give you a better idea—a piston diameter equal to a half-crown and a shilling, and a travel of three inches. The cubic content is of a litre, 747.5 c.c., the rating being 7.8 h.p. and the tax £6. It develops over 13 h.p. at 3P00 revolutions a minute, is cooled by thermo- siphon and fired by coil and battery, with an automatic advance and retard. The four-speed gear-box has these ratios : top, 5.25 to 1; third, 8.78 to 1; second, 13.85 to 1; and first, 22.94 to 1. The last is only used in emergency. Top, third and second have synchromeshed engagement and the drive is through a single-plate clutch. There is only one set of four-wheel brakes, actuated by pedal and lever. The frame is of triangular design, the suspension being by a single semi-elliptic transverse spring in front and by quarter-ellipties behind. The wheelbase is 6 ft. 9 in. and the track 3 ft. 4 in. in front and 3 ft. 7 in. behind.
The principal characteristic of the " Ruby " saloon I tried was its liveliness. The maximum comfortable speed was about 47 miles an hour by speed-indicator and there was no difficulty at all in running light at' about 40. There was very little vibration at any speed and both engine and gear- box made very little noise. The gear-change was excep- tionally easy. I liked the steering and the suspension, both of which, together with the brakes and road-holding, show great improvement over earlier models. The body is well finished throughout and the equipment includes everything desirable There is snore leg-room in front than I had expected and a surprising amount of elbow-room. An ingenious little car from every angle. It costs £125, the other closed model, a cabriolet, 1128, and the 2-seater and 4-seater open cars 1102 108.- and 1112 each.
Joins' PRIOIYA17.
[Kole.—Readers' requests for advice from our Motoring Correspondent on the choice of new cars should be accompanied by a stamped and addressed envelope. The highest price payable most be given, as well as the' type of body required. No advice can be given on the purchase, sale or exchange of used ears.'
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