Even the 'umble Ruby is not safe from the German robbers......

http://www.prewarcar.com/index.php?option=com_caradvert&view=ad§ion_id=3&id=224624&Itemid=433

Is this the one you mean? I could not find your link.

Shame, obviously a quite restorable Ruby and there are many bare chassis available.

David

Location: Hampshire

Restorable, David? This was clearly a fully restored car and, I imagine, someone's pride and joy until recently.

I'm building a special myself, but didn't break a good car to do so. Given the availability of chassis, this is completely unnecessary vandalism - quick, easy and bloody lazy!

Location: Herefordshire, with an "E" not a "T".

There was a similar "crime" reported in February's Automobile. It was suggested that the car, a rare Mathis saloon converted into a special by a VSCC member should be blacklisted, meaning it could not be entered in VSCC events. There is more to it than that and I don't know what the answer would be to prevent it happening. Unfortunately this vandalism is not restricted to vehicles when I consider how many old buildings in my home city have been bulldozed and replaced with an architect's jaundiced idea of concrete beauty.

Location: Sheffield

Maybe cars of interest should be "Graded", like old houses.
Oh! I forgot isn't that what DVLA is for when you try to put an old car back on the road?
Is there no record of the dismantling of this car or the reconstruction of another?

Roger

Location: Haverfordwest

There's a lot of it about.
Regards, Stuart

http://www.prewarcar.com/classifieds/ad224624.html

On the other hand, for someone about to embark on the restoration of an early Ruby with the usual rotted floor, not much metal beneath the rear seat, lace curtain like wheel arches etc. if the panel repair work has been done properly, the 2000 Euro asking price for a ready to bolt on bodyshell would look like a bargain.

Location: N W Kent

Forthe record the advert came from Belgium!!
David

Location: Oxfordshire

I can see that this may upset some folk but think of all those chassis lying around... and plenty of other parts too.

I view it as part of the cycle of things, someone wants a special and takes the body off. He sells it to someone with a restoration project.
Someone buys a special and wants to restore it to original, fine, let's hope they all meet in the eBay Arms for a pint!

However, if the bits went into the melting pot I really would be upset.

Location: Ripon

There are plenty of parts available to build a special, if you don't have the money or skill set to RESTORE the car back to its original spec then don't buy a heap of **** in the first place. As you can see I feel quite strongly on this one.

Location: Oakley, hants

Many people have neither the skill set or the money. Nothing could be further from my idea of fun than a manufacturer's spec rebuild.
Personally I prefer the oily rag approach, it's a good job we're not all the same.

I've not a problem with the oily rag option but that still needs a good floor pan and inner wings which were the driving force in the previous posts to build a special thus discarding the original car. When I said original spec I referred to Ruby, box , etc not some home built or even professional built special as a preference. Specials have their place, I've built one and have another in the pipeline but not st the expense of a salvageable car.

Location: Oakley, hants

I may be wrong, but the UK/ EU authorities seem to have fuelled this one, deregulate the cars and make it nigh on impossible to register a special built from parts and you have open slather for the destruction of the humble Ruby and like to build a special from. Sounds like there would be no need to register, MOT, or have any basic checks in order to put it on the road!

Location: NZ

The sad thing about all this is the people who do not have the skills to repair the saloon rarely have the skills to build a decent special. As a result you either get half finished projects or extremely disappointing and ugly cars coming onto the market.

Location: NZ

Have a look at this one

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C897986

Location: South West London

Which is where the redundant body may end up....

Ido agree about ugly specials, there are some ghastly atrocities around crying out for a rebuild.

Location: Ripon

Such a shame to see a good car broken up to build a special, when there are plenty of chassis about with documents for sale, add to that he wants to build a single seater, if that's for road use the documentation would be needed but if he wants to use it for serious competition then he will not be using that many of the original Ruby components, it would make sense to change the front axle and all the springs / shocks and may be an offset rear axle. Much better and cheaper to buy the chassis and bits you need, It looks like a case of more money than sense, I just hope he has the skills or cash needed to make a half decent car at the end off the day.

Location: Pembrokeshire

Interesting looking pick up... Is the spare wheel cover shaped thus to accommodate flat tyres?

Location: Oxfordshire

Wow, that was quike. Couldn't have been up for sale for more than a day.

Although I know this car well, very well build little special. Some nice features.

No flat tyre, when you open the spare wheel cover, the tyre is lying flat, not vertical.

Good to see it get a new home so quickly.

Tony.

Location: Huncote on the pig

Aesthetically challenged even if well built Tony!

Location: NZ

Hi IAN,

The shape may not be everyone's idea of perfection, nor mine.

But if you only have small pockets, you won't get anywhere near the Ulster rep on car and classic for £24.5k

For the beginner though it has everything, well built and cheap.

Use it straight away, learn a lot about how to run an austin 7. And be more clued up when you go for that pricey but pretty one.

Tony.

Location: Huncote on the pig

Can I have the supercharged engine back to put in its original car?

Dennis

Location: NW Devon

For those who wish to keep everything as it used to be may I recommend a Tardis?

Location: Ripon

Surely the 'Oily Rag' ethos that you champion is about preserving the history of a car through the 'patina' it has gained with years of use, and any changes and accessories it has gained. It is about maintaining the integrity of the car. This is completely at odds with destroying all of that history by removing the cars original body and re-imagining it with a new special body. You may disagree with restoration of cars (There is such a thing as a sympathetic restoration, and sometimes, if a car has been allowed to get so bad, restoration is absolutely necessary), and even though the signs of use or original paint may be lost, at least it continues to be the car it has been 80 plus years, and retains that history. As you have said there are chassis and parts out there to reconstruct a discarded saloon body, but why should it be necessary? If someone builds a special on the spare parts then the builder has the special they wanted, and the world hasn't lost a car with 80 plus years of life behind it to make it happen.

If everyone could agree that it is unnecessary, and publicise that fact, maybe we can keep more of our motoring heritage alive.

Location: New Forest

Perhaps I have been misunderstood. I have no objection to restoration, in fact, a fair amount of my car work is for this purpose. I have done work on " last remaining examples" and gone to great lengths to ensure accuracy working from faded sepia-tint photographs.

However, I also build specials and while I would never destroy a perfectly sound and usable car I cannot see the problem with taking off a body shell to do this, assuming it is past recovery. The advertised one at the beginning of this thread was obviously a sound and tidy car and while I agree it is verging on sacrilege to undo the previous work, I take comfort from the thought that it is likely to end up on another chassis as a restored complete car.

If it had been a car with astonishing history I would object but it's a bit like someone in the 1960s buying a reasonable mini and putting on a Marcos shell. Not to my taste but...

You might well criticise Chris Gould for enabling hundreds of enthusiasts to create a replica Ulster but it was a sound idea in its time and probably saved hundreds of Sevens from the scrap yard.

Chopping the rear lug off a Vincent engine to fit it into a Norton Featherbed frame is another thing altogether.

There are a lot of Austin 7s around and they are an entry point to the world of engineering in that they are affordable and easy for beginners to work on. Encouraging a new generation to do their own thing is a laudable exercise and may well bring out talents for future projects.
Millimetre perfect restoration has its merits but is beyond the ability and finance of many and unless someone is going to vandalise a perfectly good example I cannot see the problem in removing a body shell as it is likely to be re-cycled.

If I could get tinypic to work I'd post some photos of the ugliest and crudest Austin 7 special I've seen for a long time. It was at le Puy Notre-Dame last weekend and I couldn't get away from its morbidly fascinating nastiness!
I will keep trying!

Location: Ripon

hi duncan,

sounds a little harsh for you.

i think most peoples problem with this one being broken, is that it was obviously a road worthy car.

rather than taking a car that will cost 5 x what its worth to restored. so will probably never get done.

ill guess the reason for useing a running car, is to save on restoration costs. (engine rebuilds are not cheap).

and i agree with above, if you cant restore an engine and chassis yourself. the destroyer of this one is likely to make a mess of the body as well.

well if you dont like whats happend to this one, just hope the engine doesnt have a pheonix. when they turn it into something sporty, and use it as such. it could soon brake a crank. and theyll be back to position one before you know it.

tony

Location: huncote on the pig