Our Austin Sevens - Myrtle the Austin Chummy and Kotka the Austin Ulster

Myrtle and Kotka were in a somewhat tired mechanical state when we purchased them, and had not been used for some years.

In 2007, with two of us in a car similar to Myrtle, we :

• broke a rear spring crossing the Gobi
• lost the lighting system
• lost the rear brakes
• damaged the prop shaft through ingress of sand
• broke the distributor

So this time we are lightening the load by taking a car each, and the cars have had a complete mechanical rebuild. Both have been fitted with specially strengthened crankshafts, and new axle half shafts, and new springs.

We have managed to source new distributors, and both cars have been converted from 6 volt electric systems to 12 volt. Both cars have been rewired, and Kotka has been raised 6 inches to give better ground clearance. The prop shafts have been modified to prevent sand ingress.

Last time, we underslung an extra 4 gallon petrol tank above the axle, but that extra weight, some 40 pounds, helped contribute to the break of the rear spring. So this time we are taking eight plastic 5 litre cans, which we can move around the cars to give best weight distribution.

Kotka has had her rear end strengthened, as her long tail was previously liable to crack above the rear axle. She will probably take the bulky but light items such as sleeping bags, tent and clothing, whereas Myrtle will be the work horse (even so, 12 stone lighter than in 2007, having only one person on board).

Myrtle being the heavier car, has been fitted with close ratio gears in the gearbox to give easier pulling power.

Both have had the carburrettors fitted with sand filters. Both have had new radiator cores fitted, dynamos and starters rebuilt.

The work on the cars has been done by our excellent mechanic who successfully prepared Brian the Snail for his epic trip in 2007, namely Clive Smith of Monkhide, Herefordshire.

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A little about the Austin Seven courtesy of Wikipedia


The Austin 7 was a car produced from 1922 through to 1939 in the United Kingdom by the Austin Motor Company. Nicknamed the "Baby Austin", it was one of the most popular cars ever produced for the British market, and sold well abroad. It wiped out most other British small cars and cyclecars of the early 1920s^[1]; its effect on the British market was similar to that of the Model T Ford in the USA. It was also licensed and copied by companies all over the world ^[2]. The very first BMW car, the BMW Dixi, was a licensed Austin 7, as were the original American Austins. In France they were made and sold as Rosengarts. In Japan Nissan also used the 7 design as the basis for their original cars, though not under licence..... read more