Whilst trying to catalogue and name all the photographs I have on my computer I have run into the issue of the various replicas of these works cars.
Now I have Steve Hodgsons car bearing OK8945 and the (I think ex Adli Halabi) car bearing OL166, both of which are easy enough to catalogue, but I have photographs of 2 different replicas bearing OK7095, one of which was I think sold recently and to me appears to be the car which had been on the continent shown in the second picture with belgian? reg. Is this the Tony Hutchings car, that was sold abroad in the late 70s? Am I right in saying this is the car on the chassis register under OK7095?





The second is pictured here at Warwick. I have only been able to find a handful of pictures of this car and only at this event. This has outside exhaust in the same manner as OK8945.



The other side of this is the following running chassis at the 100 years of austin in 2005 which was being built as a replica you can see the manifold for outside exhaust and twin Cox Atmos carburettors, but it is wearing OK6995 which is the reg of the green AB tourer here. From the bonnet rest tape and the fasteners on the cowl it appears to be the car above, rather than Steves car (the only other I have seen with outside exhaust and twin carbs). There is another picture I have found which is I think the Warwick car with its bonnet off seems to show the same rest tape and the wire seems in the same place as the running chassis.







Hopefully without stirring up any of the who rightfully owns what reg. Does anyone have any more info on the car pictured at Warwick? Is it wearing OK7095 for show as there are not 2 OK7095 entries on the chassis register? If so what is the reg it normally wears? Who built it etc?

Looking at the chassis bearing OK6995 and the AB tourer, they appear to be the same plate at the same angle. Is it plausable someone changed their mind on using this chassis to build a team car rep and took the cowl and engine off and built it as the AB seen? The cowl and engine going onto the car at warwick? OK6995 is shown as being in the SCA7C and I believe one of the team car reps is in Scotland is it the same person behind both?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, and If anyone has any more photos of any of the replicas I'd love to see them. All credit to the owners of the photos I have posted here.

Many thanks, and all the best for the new year.

Timothy

Location: New Forest

Tim, Have you taken Norman Purvis`s Car(Scotland) into account ?

Location: near 28 M25

What about checking the registration numbers on DVLA's site

Hello Jon,
Is either of the above cars Normans?
I only have pictures of 4 cars OK8945, OL166 and the two cars show OK7095, I had heard of there being a replica in Scotland and was leaning towards thinking this was the OK7095 in the picture next to OK8945 above. I got this idea mainly from the chassis above bearing OK6995 which the sign on say it is being built as a works replica but has subsequently been built as the green AB above, which is in scotland. It would appear that the cowl and the manifolds made their way onto the car next to OK8945, I assumed that either they had the same owner or were related in some other way. Although the entry for OK7095 on the chassis register, which I thought was the first car pictured (the Tony Hutchings built car?) Engine no 3096 is also Scottish A7 Club. If neither are Norman Purvis' car does anyone have a picture of his car?
Thank you Simon I have had no joy using the DVLA search. I'm not sure what the DVLA would tell me as I'm trying to find out about two cars showing the same reg so really the builder/owner is more of interest. There are not two results for OK7095 on the chassis register but these pictures show two cars showing one number, so I'm trying to work out what the story is of each. I would like to reiterate that I don't want to cause any trouble of who owns what reg, I just want to be able to name the photo's I have a bit more effectively than replica 1 and 2.
Thanks again for your help

Location: New Forest

Well, of the four registrations you mention, only OL 166 is recognised by mycarcheck as an Austin 7 sports. The other three registration numbers return "Do not exist on our database". I believe mycarcheck get their information both from the DVLA's database and insurance company databases etc.

The DVLA site confirms OL 166 as being a 17th January 1979 - date of first registration (1923 year of manufacture) Austin colour black, currently taxed, new tax due on 1st March 2015.

OK 6995 as being a 1st January 1930 Austin colour green. untaxed since 11th April 1983.

OK 8945 as not being on their database.

OK 7095 as not being on their database.

The new 2014 Chassis Register does indeed show two different cars carrying the same OK 7095 registration.

Jeff.

Location: Almost but not quite, the far North East of England

I suppose I did not help in all this when I asked Birmingham Motor Taxation Office to reissue OK 7095 to me back in 1968 !
….. I still have their letter confirming the number was then void and they would reissue it to me…...

Hello Jeff,
Thank you For checking those I have had no joy with searching DVLA.
I am only getting one result for OK7095 on the latest chassis register, rather than 2, what am I doing wrong? If I could just find out who built/owns each that would be all I need to name my photos a bit more effectively.

Location: New Forest

Hi Timothy,

Sorry for the confusion, I was referring to the February 2014 Chassis Register that I'd downloaded at the time, I wasn't aware until checking just now that a new update had been released on 1st October 2014, my apologies for that.

Certainly in the February 2014 register, two different vehicles were listed for OK 7095 - a 1923 Works Racer Replica and a 1924 AB Tourer - different chassis and engine numbers. In the October 1st edition 'By Registration Number Order' the entry for OK 7095 and the entry immediately above it for OK 6995 have been almost obliterated by an overprinted opaque blue band - so presumably this anomaly has been addressed by the A7CA Registrar in the intervening seven months.

Jeff.

Location: Almost but not quite, the far North East of England

Hello Jeff,
No problem I did manage to find trace of the 1924 AB tourer in the latest register using excels find feature for 7095 which brings up that it had previously been on with OK7095 but it had been proved that OK7095 was on the works replica chassis 187. Interestingly the chassis number and body number of the AB tourer are the same as the engine number of the works replica all being 3096. However I think it's probably best not to question the whys and wherefores of this as it is not really relevant to naming my photographs and I don't want to cause any trouble.
All the best
Timothy

Location: New Forest

I believe that the factory used the same registration plates on several vehicles as can be seen in some of the publicity shots and also illustrated in several period photographs. With regards to the works rep and tourer perhaps the owner of these cars was simply trying to recreate this.

Location: New Zealand

Or perhaps another sad case of the unfortunate problem I had hoped only applied to very expensive vintage cars.
Shows what the attraction of even a few pounds (dollars) will do

Tony.

Location: Malvern, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Yes I had noticed that the registrations got moved around a lot in the early years. I think the numbers on these cars is probably a subject that is best left to those who have more information or owners of the cars. I certainly don't want to cause any unrest, especially with the owners of these cars which I admire so much. I would certainly like to apologise if I have inadvertently brought up a sore subject for anyone. I really only want to know who built the different replicas so I can name the photographs I have of these.

Location: New Forest

Have just seen a car the same as the one in the top photo outside my mum's neighbour's house in Bedfordshire.
It was making lots of noise, sounded like a lawn-mower engine.
I googled because I was fascinated.
It has the Number 10 on the side and the OK 7095
The bit around the radiator was white.
So is it an old car or replica?
I can post a photo I took on my phone if it's of any interest to anybody.

Location: Bedfordshire, UK

"OK 7095" no longer exists on the DVLA database, as far as I know. It could be a replica on a genuine 7 chassis, but who knows. Difficult to tell without seeing it. On a side note, an Austin 7 running properly wouldn't sound like a lawnmower-Too many cylinders!

Location: Herefordshire

It is on the DVLA database - just enter the make as Austin Seven ( not just Austin) & the reg. number for full details. Trust this helps. Geoff

OK 7095 at Curborough Austin 7 Track Day last weekend (19/03/16)...

It is great to see my old Brooklands car has arrived back in the UK after so many years in Europe. I gave the car a pat at the weekend at Beaulieu Austin 7 Rally and wished its new owner all the best with his endevours.

The engine does still make quite a row when at full throttle! But my lawn mower never sounded like that.....!

Cheers,

Tony Hutchings

Location: Hampshire

Re the Warwick Rally photos, Norman Purves restored both the 1922 Chummy and built the Racer. He said he put the OK 7095 number on the racer 'cause it suited the car, being unaware that it was actually in use elsewhere.

Thank you for the clarification Robin, I had come to that conclusion, without expressly being told as much, so it is nice to get a positive confirmation. As far as my information shows though Norman Purves A type tourer is 1923 not 1922 registered in March that year? I'd love to find out it was a '22 produced car but as far as the I know the third prototype #XL3 Reg OK3537 is the only known survivor produced in 1922.

Location: New Forest