Seven interest and Seven clubs is a chicken and egg situation. The latter will not exist without the first. And persons without cars feel a bit awkward in Clubs. Every effort should be made to foster interest in the cars. But cars need to be honestly touted. Many Seven restorers have been disappointed by the end result.

Many are not interested in Clubs for a long list of reasons; for the industrious restorer time is at a premium. From Forum posts, several able have contacted me directly. They are wary of the Forum let alone Clubs. Any hint of dismissiveness is very discouraging to most. Some that root for expanded club membership discourage as many as they attract. I am in touch with ardent restorers who belong to Clubs only for access to parts hoards.

Information and parts are the things much sought after. With Sevens is almost too much info; it takes an age to work through all the Club websites. Much is dated, repetitive and obsolete, and major errors persist. New comers are smothered, and those with the experience to sift and sort hardly need it. It would be helpful if articles could perhaps be listed in one place and allotted some sort of a grading and within categories ie Introductory, Complete, Supplementary, Dated Period, Competition Orientated , Fine Detail or somesuch.

Many now come with a woefully lacking practical background. The maintenance ritual and materials needs to be presented in the simplest form, free of discouraging mystique.

I belong to a one make Club which for the limited range of vehicles and relative rarity, is one of the most successful here. Several factors (which I can list) contribute but in the main it is the enormous industry of a few (which does not include me). Nowadays few but the elderly have the time. Younger new members are scarce. Weekends are no longer free as 40 years ago.

I think opportunity is often lost at displays and public appearances. I have yet to have anyone say “I am contemplating an old car as a hobby. What does this make offer?” Engaging with all is hard work but seeds may be sown. It is not unknown for newly retired persons to be looking for a completely new interest.
It is too easy to treat as a reunion , yarn to mates and ignore the tedious public. In just a few minutes passing through an unattended VAR site I fielded questions about numbers made, numbers here now, normal driving speed, crankhandle use etc. The experience of cranking is entirely novel. If any ever develop an interest, Sevens may spring to their mind.

Instead of long detailed technical description placards need to convey some period idea of the car in normal use in its time, and sell the hobby and the car. Here It is difficult for outsiders to appreciate how common the cars still actually are. The favourable spares situation needs to be publicised.

Location: Auckland, NZ

What attracted you to A7's in the first place?
It was a natural progression.
The first car in the family was an A30, aged 8 I was grinding in the valves and learnt to drive it on a private airfield. Age 14 I was stripping the engine on the family A40 Farina. Age 16 I was driving a side-valve reliant 3 wheeler with engine based on the seven. Read 'The Austin Seven' by Wyatt from local library, ended up buying the same book years later at a library sale. Bought my Ruby to restore thirty years ago. Still working on it.


What encourage's you to attend meetings, events, and such like?
Don't go to meetings, go to various local events to display my other Austin (Ruby still not on the road).

What puts you off the same?
Went to meetings etc years ago but people weren't friendly.

What would you like to see that is currently not happening within the clubs in general?
would like more Austins and more sevens to attend local rallies, shows, events. Many events are being taken over by seventies and eighties cars, and later.

What is the best thing about owning an Austin 7?
Always something to do, something to read about, chat about.

I don't really want a club or meetings. This forum is great, with good discussions and information. But even on here there seems to be a bit of a clique. I've asked a few questions over the years and got very few answers. Surely someone knows what to soak my old carburetors in to make them look like new.

As one who has answered your questions Andrew I am surprised to read your comment.

I made a sensible suggestion about your carbs which you chose not to acknowledge, perhaps others have experienced the same and this has put them off continuing?

You may like to consider the following suggestions that have worked for me in the past:

- vapour/soda/media blasting.

- use a dishwasher.

- boiling water with a Daz (or similar) tablet.

- carburettor cleaner.

- use an ultrasonic cleaner.

- use Marine-Clean.

- try something yourself, see if it works and report back here.

Apologies for diverting the conversation Ian W.

Bob my dislike of your attitude and approach on this site is no secret, and I apologise in advance to other reader's who do not like slanging matches but I can not abide hypocrites
Bob I know you are just attempting to provoke me and that you revel in such destructive practices, but why do you do this. What are you trying to achieve, " any hint dismissiveness is very discouraging" you constantly dismiss Austin sevens as nasty, badly engineered and designed cars not worthy of use on todays roads. You dismiss almost everyone as being woefully incapable of any engineering skill required to work on them, you dismiss web sites and books because they are riddled with errors. You rarely if ever tell us what you perceive those errors to be, you make sweeping dismissive statements that are often quite blatantly wrong. Yet here you are accusing others of being the reason people are discouraged, you seem to have one aim and that is to discourage and disrupt an otherwise vibrant and friendly forum.

Location: NZ

Ruairidh, your general contribution is so brilliant and appreciated that I could not bring myself to negatively acknowledge you. But really you had not addressed my question. I wanted to do things myself and you suggested going to an outside expert. And responses from others were conspicuous by their absence. Are people really put off as easily as you suggest?

Andrew!

Hi Derrick, Thank you very much for your thread. Firstly, I'd like to thank you and the couple in the red Ruby parked between our cars at Bewl for chatting with me, especially for facing me when talking! Be reassured you definitely did not offend me in any way!! As you know I can speak quite clearly and my lip-reading skills are good so communicating with a Deaf person doesn't essentially mean one has to use sign language so I was rather bemused with those who walked away from me so suddenly! You and the other couple certainly made my day at Bewl as talking to fellow A7 owners or even people who may have an interest in our cars means a lot to me! Who knows, we might meet at another show or even a Senlac Centre meet. The Six Bells isn't that far from me! The only snag I have is that I don't go for gatherings where there are speakers as there's little point in me going if I'm not going to follow what's been said! I like the ideas of small gatherings, rallies etc where I can (hopefully) fit in and chat with others. Hence, I'll need to be selective on what I attend! In any case, I think A7OC (London) with all its Centres is great as it's an opportunity for fellow A7 owners to get together and enjoy the varied events each Centre puts on.
Despite this thread being a week old and having had excellent response to it, there's been no contact from any Deaf A7 owner as yet! It's early days but if any A7 owners know of a Deaf A7 owner, it would be much appreciated if their attention was drawn to this thread!
All the best .......... Derek

Location: Sunny Brighton in Sussex UK

Hi Jacqui, Oh no, it's a shame YOU don't live here! I'd love to meet up for a natter! I'm afraid NZ is a bit too far for me to drive my Ruby over to see you! I'm still hoping there will be some Deaf A7 owners out there, and also lots of others like you with the essential understanding of communicating with the likes of me!! By the way, do any of your Deaf friends own A7's? I love your "attend a monthly 'caffeine and classics' park-up". It reminds me of my 60's gatherings of various friends with common interests (in my case at that time it was either motor bikes or Minis!) at what were called "transport or greasy spoon cafes". I don't know if it's a thing the A7 fraternity do in UK nowadays but there are certainly plenty of pubs and coffee places around with parking! See my thread reply to Derrick - I'm wondering if I'm the only Deaf A7 owner in UK!! All the best Derek

Location: Sunny Brighton in Sussex UK

Goodness me Ian. Why don't you give Bob a phone call and air your differences with him direct, instead of using this excellent forum! And as for my email address, I don't wish to be the target of your vitriol, but prefer to enjoy the friendly banter that is the norm: for this forum.

To be clear and for the record Colin it is most certainly not Ian Williams but another Kiwi altogether who trolls and misleads and spoils this excellent forum.
The real mystery is why.
And why he persveres.

Location: Wessex

Colin I did try! the man just takes pleasure from winding everyone up.

Ian thank you for your support, I take it as an honour from someone who has done so much for the A7 movement as you.

I should add if Colin or anyone else wishes to call me off forum to vent their spleen I have nothing to hide, I publish who I am, my email and for good measure and here is my number 09 4421261.

Location: NZ

If Colin cared to scroll back a few years he would see that a certain New Zealander has been often encouraged to stop writing some of his ridiculous rantings. Sadly it hasn't worked - most now ignore and not wish to become involved, others have given up trying. The worst thing we can do is mislead newbies with wrong info and his negative comments have probably put off others from buying Sevens. Not what we need to see, although I must admit that recently some of his contributions have been helpful, even though they're usually about other makes, not Sevens - perhaps he's slowly come to his senses?. I know that Ian has contacted him direct, but obviously to no avail. And Colin, don't think this is an individual thing on Ian's part - I can show you a pile of emails directed to me complaining about our problem when I've attempted to correct blatant errors in the past. Cheers, Bill

Location: Euroa, Australia