Austin Seven Ruby 1937 - World Of Classic Cars -

Austin Seven Ruby 1937

The Austin Seven was produced from 1922 through to 1939 by the Austin Motor Company. Nicknamed the 'Baby Austin', it was one of the most popular cars ever produced and sold equally well abroad.  It took a huge sector of the UK market having a similar effect to that of the Model T Ford in the USA.  Prior to the Austin Seven, larger cars were the order of the day; however, the forward thinking Sir Herbert Austin felt a smaller car would be more popular. In spite of protestations from the company's board of directors who were concerned about the financial status of the company, Austin won them over by threatening to take the idea to their competitor, Wolseley, and so got permission to start on his design. He was assisted by a young draughtsman called Stanley Edge who worked at Austin's home. Austin put a large amount of his own money into the design and patented many of its innovations; in return for the investment he was paid a royalty of two guineas on every car sold. Nearly 2,500 cars were made in the first year of production (1923); not as many as hoped but within a few years the 'big car in miniature' had transformed the fortunes of the Austin Motor Company and by 1939, when production finally ended, 290,000 cars and vans had been manufactured.