Took the AK-hybrid-multi-terrain Saloon to near Aviemore for half-term holidays...

...Loch Garten...



...Cairngorm...



..all crammed in, (thanks to Hedd Jones for the help in seat procurement!)...



...and the real reason for the post, found a lovely period garage, anyone else got nice photos of vintage garages that still exist in use today??

FBHVC Newsletter has just arrived on the doorstep and is running an article on a book documenting older garages!

Great pictures Ruairidh! Nice to see the old bus getting out and about and I can't believe you got five of you in it...hope you've got some "Nobbies" on the back end!

Location: Near Bicester

Not Nobbies, just good new springs, wonder where they came from....!

Ruairidh
Great Photo,reminds me off 1972 Rally, wished I had taken a photo of my three back seat passengers,complaining about whose turn it was to get out of the middle seat and have a footwell to themselves,happy days

Frank

Location: EDINBURGH

Thanks Frank,

I remember you telling me about your trailer that collapsed!

Ruairidh I hasten to add the trailer,was for the camping gear,and not the car

Location: EDINBURGH

I would never associate you with a trailer used to carry a car Frank!

Thanks Ruairidh

I was realy thinking of FUTURE (Austineers yet slumbering in the womb of time)who may have misunderstood,cheers Ruairidh

Location: EDINBURGH

Thanks R for the great shots. It reminded me that I didn't previously have any decent photos of the saloon. Your Mum kindly loaned it to me so that I could enter Beaulieu in '77, camping beforehand on Roach's farm, so happy memories. Cheers, Bill

Location: Mount Eliza, Melbourne, Australia

Ruairidh, as a relative newcomer here I feel really honoured to share the joy of your family photos here. You all look so happy! And the Austin looks good too. Thank you.

Location: United Kingdom ooop norf

Glad you enjoyed them Andrew, they illustrate the most enjoyable part of Austin Seven ownership in my opinion.

I'm glad the discussion we had helped Ruairidh.

Your saloon sits down like mine does loaded up, though I do have some nobbies to fit when the weather improves.

No1 daughters 4th birthday party is on Sunday, the Traction engine has been booked for an appearance, so the 'engine seat' might get a fair bit of use with 20odd 3/4year olds!.

Out of interest whats the story with the mid 1930's number on a '29(?) car?.

Nobbies are a very good idea if you need them. I fitted some on my Chummy when we towed a trailer behind it, my father used them for years on his when he did the same with my sister and I in the back on our Continental camping tours before we outgrew the back seat and buying the Twelve. BME appears to sit down at the back as I fitted the new front wings at a jaunty angle, it always looks like it is about to enter into flight, I like it that way!

"BME 180" was on the car when my dad bought it in 1964. At that time it also had a floorpan made of oak floorboards, a three bearing engine, four speed gearbox and a ruby rear mounted fuel tank. When I tried to fit a window winder into the passenger door last year (it has never had one in our ownership) I couldn't as the door appeared to have been handmade replacement and was too narrow. It still has a wooden dashboard and it's austin 12(20?) sidelights, I recently removed the hydraulic braking system fitted by Ray Stephens in the 1950's, replacing it with semi Girling backplates and the original style uncoupled system. The car has been loaned to many people over the years, it's longest stint to a district nurse in the 1980's who used it daily on her rounds. It was Grey on purchase, then a very dark blue and painted Oxford and Cambridge Blue in the 1970's. It was driven to Norway on my parents Honeymoon in 1968 and also a trip to Vienna and back in under two weeks. Scruffy, totally unoriginal, "Beemee" as it is affectionately known is very much loved in our family.

Liked the pictures R There is a small motor museum complete with Garage in Leicestershire

http://www.stonehurstfarm.co.uk/motormuseum.php

[I was going to have a go at doing a link but the computer is on the blink. Would someone do the necessary please?]

This is part of a family run farm that is open to the public so is suitable for the whole family.

Location: Near M1 Jtn 28

Loved the Reliant Van- didn't know the hand crank was out front on the nearside.

Tony.

Location: Melbourne, Australia

So did I when we went on holiday to the Isle of Wight with my 12-year-old son and a friend. They worked well, especially on the rather poorly surfaced island roads. When I drove the car by myself it made the ride rather 'choppier' over bumpier road surfaces, so I took them off again when the boys got a bit older (and heavier). They also reduced body roll and stiffened up the rear suspension, so you could go hammering round roundabouts in a most un-Chummy-like fashion!

David

I have just got out of a hot bath, when the 'Museum view' started to slowly rotate, I began to whooooooooos.....

Location: Near Lands End

Many thanks Sandy. Sorry if the movement was unsettling!

Location: Near M1 Jtn 28