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Andy's Austin Seven Page - references in books
The following are taken from books which I have enjoyed reading. I am always interested in references to Austin Sevens in books, so please email me with any others .
Talking abut the war - 1939 - 45: A Personal view of the war in Britain by Anne Valery ISBN 0-7181-3391-9
"Initially cars had a basic petrol ration but in 1940 this was abolished except for special cases such as doctors & the heads of emergency services. In order to stop black marketeering or misuse, petrol for farm machinery was dyed & police would dip-stick tanks to check that there had been no siphoning off. My great-uncle, a farmer whose lone machine had broken down,had the bright idea of boring holes in the back of his ancient Austin Seven, through which my prone great-aunt pushed seed as he drove up & down the fields. However because this was a car, although never used on the road, my uncle feared that he would be prosecuted for using the dyed petrol. Always law-abiding he wrote to the Minister of Transport explaining the position and asking for dispensation. To its eternal credit and despite far more important matters like winning the war, his letter was discussed in the Commons and he received an official blessing. His son has the Minister's letter to this day, for as my uncle remarked: when democracy makes the time to discuss the plight of just one citizen, then it deserves to win any battle against a dictatorship"
Below the Parapet - The biography of Denis Thatcher by Carol Thatcher, Harper Collins 1996 ISBN 0 00 255605 7
"As soon as he had passed his driving test, Denis's priority was to buy his own set of wheels.
'My first car was a minute Austin Seven. I paid �5 for it, buying it off a mate.
It was brown & we painted it brown/mauve at Erith. It wasn't cellulose or anything like that,
only oil paint' David Roe remembers the car less fondly: '
Its registration number began with EMM, so he called it Little Emma.
She didn't always burst into life with the first turn of the starting
handle.'"
Lestrade and the kiss of Horus by M J Trow, Constable (London) 1995, ISBN 0-09-474000-3
"The object of their affection was Emma Bandicoot-Lestrade who had
just driven her Austin Seven into the courtyard below Fred Wensley's
office. She hauled on the handbrake and stepped out, with the intention
of fetching her father. Her coat had hooked itself on the bumper
however......"
Jet Flight by John Grierson, Sampson Low, Marston & Co Ltd 1946
I am grateful to Douglas Ormrod of Auckland, New Zealand for this one who wrote to me as follows: 'As far as I am aware that acme of engineering excellence, the Austin 7 engine, has never been used to power an aircraft in flight (I stand to be corrected). However, the little power plant did play a significant role in the development of the jet-powered heavier than air machine. The prototype jet engine was developed by Sir Frank Whittle in the 1930's and the first aircraft to be powered by his design was the Gloster E 28 which made its maiden flight in May 1941. Now, you don't start a modern jet with a swing on the turbine and the early ones were no different � an auxiliary power source was required. In the case of the E 28 this power was provided by an Austin 7 engine through a connection reportedly known colloquially as the elephants trunk. It is to the credit of Sir Herbert's design that the Austin 7 engine was already well out of production by the time it was used to start the latest in British aviation technology.'
"....the only part of the cover which was lifted was the small one through which a flexible starting drive(known colloquially by some such name as 'the elephant's trunk') from the Austin 7 h.p. auxilliary engine was passed."
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