The annual National Austin 7 Rally, organised by the 750 Motor Club, takes place on Sunday 7th July in the grounds of the Beaulieu attraction, home to the National Motor Museum. Among a wide range of fascinating displays and demonstrations of driving skills will be some extreme examples of just what an extraordinary little car the pre-war Austin 7 is – and how extraordinary some of its owners are!
Guy Butcher and Eunice Kratky recently completed an epic 18,300 mile journey in a 1928 Austin 7 Chummy – taking eight and a half months to drive across the USA from Baltimore to Alaska and then all the way down to the tip of South America at Tierra del Fuego. Their aim was to raise funds for children with special needs and their families and to date they have collected over £10,000. You can read their story at www.bespk.com and they will be with their car at the National Austin 7 Rally.
Going in the opposite direction, south to north, a group of three Austin 7s is currently making its way from Buenos Aires to New York – an 11,000 mile journey across twelve countries and two continents. They are recreating the remarkable journey of the late John Coleman, who, in 1959, drove the route alone in his Austin Chummy. That was in the days when there were no mobile phones, no internet, and in some places, no real roads! If everything goes according to plan the intrepid modern-day adventurers will bring their cars to the rally at Beaulieu in July. You can follow their escapades online at www.austinsinamericas.co.uk
The National Austin 7 Rally is sponsored by Warranty Direct and RH Specialist Insurers. Full details and entry forms can be found on the website: www.750mc.co.uk/austin7. Gates open at 10am. Beaulieu attraction visitors are welcome to attend this fascinating and entertaining event.
Note:
The Austin 7 was the first truly mass-produced British car and it changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of ordinary people by giving them the opportunity to buy an affordable motor car for the first time. Between 1922 and 1939 some 290,000 were built and about 8,000 are thought to still be around. The 750 Motor Club was founded in 1939