As a matter of interest, what does the paperwork describe it as? I remember seeing this one on eBay a couple of weeks ago.

Location: Herefordshire

You may accuse me of senility or insanity or both, but isn't this neat job built on a long wheelbase? If so, this may indicate that it was built privately, rather than by a commercial concern? Good Luck with your search. Cheers, Bill in Oz

Location: Victoria, AUS.

I think that a7fan has summed the van up nicely. Incidentally, it isn't one of ours.

I'd be interested to know what this was described as and what paperwork/registration/id it came with.

It is, without doubt, based on a Ruby (mid 1934 onwards); LWB, low chassis,17" wheels,long engine nosecone, instrument panel. It appears to have wheels from the later Mk2/ARR model of 1936-39.

The body looks competently built, but it's "in the spirit of" a twenties C-cab van, rather than being an accurate replica of any original model. I'm trying to work out whether it's framed in ash, or pine.

The rear wings and steering wheel look as though they're from a '32 - '34 RP saloon, but I don't recognise the front wings, which look a bit oversize. Is the radiator cowl metal, or fibreglass?

As long as there are no paperwork issues, it looks like a nice "fun car".

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

James, I fear that you may struggle to get a age related registration out of the DVLA for your van especially if the van section is a fresh build as you state.
We have just been though a 4 month nightmare with the DVLA and finally received an age related registration which arrived on the door mat last Saturday after having to jump through hoop to satisfy them with dating evidence.
Our van was imported into the UK last year from New Zealand and we bought it as it came with importation NOVA documentation and the chassis number fell within the group of factory records held at Gaydon so we could obtain a heritage certificate as dating evidence along with the dating declared on the NOVA document issued by HMRC and the DVLA and the dating letter from an A7 club.
Our first application to the DVLA was rejected on the grounds of insufficient dating evidence as well as other information they required.
We next had emailed over from New Zealand the detailed 10 page Vintage car Club of New Zealand registration documents which contained copies of the 1930 registration documents from when it landed in New Zealand fresh from Austin and it's New Zealand government re-registration in 1982. Along with the other info DVLA required, we then re-applied.
A couple of weeks later we received a letter from the DVLA stating that they now required an inspection of the vehicle by SGS. The inspection took place a couple of weeks later which I found comical and 10 days after that the age related V5C arrived.
Have other out there had that much trouble or were we just unlucky ??

Location: Cambridgeshire

Thanks for all your posts, at present I do not have a V5c for the car but was assured by the seller that there was an old gentleman who had owned the car and he has all the paperwork, so my first angle is to try and track him down and I tjought a good place to start would be to see if someone recognised the body and knew where it was made.
Obviously the car hasn't be stored away so I'm hoping some enthusiast may have seen it in the last couple of years and be able to point me in the right direction.

Location: Maidenhead

James, do you know the registration number? Is the chassis number plate present? Knowing these might help us to help you.

It sounds as though there may be some complicated issues here.

Was this a private sale, or did you buy the van from a motor trader - this means anyone who regularly buys cars for resale, not just a business with a nice, shiny forecourt!

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

Paul

Was the inspection itself comical or merely the need for one?

SGS are a respected global inspection company but I doubt that they know what they are looking at, merely ticking boxes.
I wonder if any of their staff could differentiate between a 1929 and a 1931 back axle other than by looking for date stamps!

Charles

Hi Paul
Did you take the car for inspection or was it a home visit?
Tim

Location: North London

SGS are indeed a well respected company but over my many years of dealing with various high profile company's I have found many to have been full of froth and bluster and many more to be as the analogy, swimming serenely like a swan while paddling like crazy under the water. I got the impression that the guy carrying out the inspection was a sub contractor from a car or automotive business over in East Anglia. He was I would say in his 60's so should have been aware of what an Austin Seven is but I doubt had any first hand knowledge of them.
He had a printout from the DVLA with a list of boxes to be filled in the first being what is the registration ?? This was going to be a difficult one as my clairvoyant powers are pretty poor. Some of the other questions were :- chassis and engine numbers, engine capacity, odometer mileage, colour, how many seat, how many doors and so on. No actual inspection of the vehicle just a photo of the 4 sides and a photo of the chassis and engine numbers which were both out of focus and unreadable. 20 minutes from start to finish. All of the questions and photo's had previously been submitted to the DVLA in our application. I got the impression that it was a does the vehicle actually exist exercise.
There was no cost to me for the SGS inspection as the tax payer picks up the bill which I imagine was a few bob.

Tim, the inspection was at home for me as I have the 1 metre of clear space around the vehicle in my garage that they require you to have, although they have the option to require you to arrange and present it at a local garage with a ramp for them to carry out the inspection. As the vehicle is not registered and therefore not road legal it would require trailering to and from the garage and paying the garage for the privilege.

Location: Cambridgeshire