When someone says 'hot rod' the obvious thing to think is of fenderless 32' Fords or maybe T-buckets.  The thing is hot rodding didn't only happen in America, while our US based friends were hacking around their pre-war cars we were doing the same on this side of the Atlantic.  Some people were lucky enough to have American cars to play with, others took to modifying what they had at hand.

The Austin 7 has been the basis for many cars and many specials, but right now I'd like to look at some of the rodding people have done with it.  The first is this fantastic picture from the Time Travel DVD archive, taken in 1962, of a chap standing very proudly next to his Austin 7 Hot Rod :



This image originally got me to searching for more, the potential was there in 1962 to take the car further, after a bit of browsing and searching I found that whilst a lot of modifiers had gone off in the sports special direction with the 750 Motorclub, there were people that decided hot rodding was the way forwards.  It is interesting to note that I had to go back across the Atlantic to find some more small Austin action.

On the legendary H.A.M.B I found pictures of Austin Bantams, the early cars from American Bantam are Austin 7s built under license in the USA.  Of those pictures one really stuck out for me:



It shows the full potential for a street rodding style on the little Austin.  The UK isn't without its stand out Austin based hot rods, Pip Biddlecombe's Rubellion is a very well known car on the UK Hot Rodding scene and has been around for many years, in many different guises.  To get a better idea of how much it has changed over time have a look at this thread on the NSRA forums.

Here it is now :



Whilst it clearly has a lot of potential and many Sevens were built it seems odd that we aren't swimming in a sea of modified Austins.  It certainly got my creative juices going for a cost effective bit of rodding in my life.

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Posted on: February 23, 2009 05:17


Comments

February 23. 2009 08:16

"I found that whilst a lot of modifiers had gone off in the sports special direction with the 750 Motorclub"  "Whilst it clearly has a lot of potential and many Sevens were built it seems odd that we aren't swimming in a sea of modified Austins."

Anything pre-'31 is VSCC eligible, so is usually either used for trials, racing, or kept as it is for LC&ES events.  They have always been a popular car for VSCC events, and so values reflect that.  Later stuff is 750 MC, so again the demand presumably makes them expensive compared to other similar cars.  For similar reasons, pre-war Rileys aren't hot rodded (despite being one of, if not the best looking factory prewar UK cars) as wrecks still have high value for special building.

I also suspect that quite a few hot rodded A7s have subsequently been used as the basis for specials, as they would have been viewed as more deserving candidates for special building, than an original and restorable example.

As for the number of modified ones still out there, to most of us, they don't look modified, as they are period correct but there are loads of A7 racing specials Smile

Paul H United Kingdom

February 23. 2009 11:37

I think the main reason that they're not so popular is they're smaaaaaaaaaaal. Smaller than a Pop even. Makes it a lot harder to fit everything in.

Matt

stealthstylz United Kingdom

February 24. 2009 17:57

Matt : Surely now with funky 4pots being availble it makes for some interesting ideas... or perhaps Daihatsu Charade GTti engine?? Smile  The black streetrod looking one is rotary powered.

Paul : I think you are probably right that a lot got turned into specials, which is pretty closely related to hot rodding anyway.  Now you've got me thinking of a Riley 12/4 Falcon hot rod!

HoTWire United Kingdom

February 24. 2009 22:22

Only ever seen pics of two Riley hotrods & both were RMs.  Btw, imho a Kestrel saloon would be the best body for a rod, but the only 'cheap' ones (still several £K usually...) are good only for special building as the ash body frame will have disintegrated, and the outer panels are ally rather than steel, so not ideal for rod building.  However it should be possible to get hold of the remains of the bodies from special builders though....  Wink  Smile

Back in the day, there was a Kestrel fitted with a blown ERA engine!!!!

Paul H United Kingdom

April 12. 2009 22:14

Wow, I never knew that When someone says 'hot rod' the obvious thing to think is of fender less 32' Fords or maybe T-buckets.. That's pretty interesting...

yachtcharter griechenland United States

April 12. 2009 22:16

Wow, I never knew that When someone says 'hot rod' the obvious thing to think is of fenderless 32' Fords or maybe T-buckets.  . That's pretty interesting...

yacht charter greece United States

September 11. 2009 20:32

That's great, I never thought about hot rod' the obvious thing to think is of fenderless 32' Fords or maybe T-buckets like that before.

Yachtcharter Griechenland Greece

September 17. 2009 02:44

This is the best post on this topic i have ever read.


Regards

Pitter

aion gold United States

September 17. 2009 02:44

Hi nice site design


Regards

Aeron

aion kina United States

September 29. 2009 18:25

I was just thinking about fenderless 32' Fords and you've really helped out. Thanks!

Walking Holiday Spain United States

November 17. 2009 21:53

Thats really very nice blog, I am impressed.

Tire United States

November 17. 2009 21:53

Thats great, I never knew before this blog.

Tires United States

November 21. 2009 06:13

built an 1932 austin7 hot rod for my wife back in 72 with superminx running gear

colin lane New Zealand

January 3. 2010 21:25

Having read nearly all the blog, I have recognized that being a part of online community gives you an awesome chance to gain more knowledge in different spheres.  

web design los angeles United Kingdom

February 2. 2010 02:01

We're about halfway through building a '37 Ruby rod for my lad's first car Using a '76 spitfire chassis and '91 Suzuki SJ 413 engine and gearbox to keep the insurance low .should be running by the end of summer and on the road summer 2011

John Broadway United Kingdom

February 14. 2010 15:46

That's great, I never thought about Austin 7 hot rods like that before.

craft shows United States

February 16. 2010 19:47

Wow, I never knew that Austin 7 hot rods. That's pretty interesting...

Yachtcharter Griechenland Italy

February 28. 2010 15:32

Awesome stuff you guys got here.  I really like how the theme of the website and how well you organized the content.  It's a marvelous job I will come back and check you out sometime.

Eli Wilner Master Framer United States

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