Austin 7 Opal.
Photographs of vintage Austin 7 box saloons and later Rubys, as well as several sporting variants, feature well in this section of the site, but until now period photos of the two-seater tourer known as the Austin Seven Opal had been absent. Mike posted this photo on the site forum, and agreed to it being added onto the main site too (thanks Mike!). Interestingly, the pint-sized Austin, beneath its two-tone bonnet, was fitted with a supercharged engine no less.
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The Austin's registration was DGK 450, a London-issued number from late 1936. Mike, who was only six months old at the time of the photo, and can just be seen sat on his mother's lap in the passenger seat, adds:
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"As a bit of background info, the photo dates from the summer of 1947. At the beginning of 1947 Derbyshire, along with most of the country, had tremendous snow falls, and the Austin was used to plan a sporting trial for the North Midland Motor Club. When the trial eventually took place the snows had largely gone, and the planned route was found to go over the top of several dry stone walls!!!"
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Thanks again to Mike for the photo.
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An RAC Superintendent's Opal tourer.
Bob Glaister's father was a Superintendent with the RAC (Royal Automobile Club), his "patch" being South West Scotland in the 1930s and 1940s. The vehicle assigned to the job was the car shown below, another example of Austin's 7 Opal tourer, complete with an RAC badge on its grille (although no "Austin Seven" script unusually). As well as the photograph, Bob also retains his father's mileage records and journals from his time with Austins, and invoices for work done to them. The Austin shown below sports the registration DGF 651, registered to London late in 1936. Thanks for the photo Bob!
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Return to Page 15 in the gallery of vintage cars and vehicles.
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