Austin 7 - Australian Bodied Sevens

Australian Bodied Sevens

In an attempt to establish an Australian motor industry after World War I, the Australian Government imposed a tax on imported cars. However, an imported chassis attracted far less tax, and as a result Australian coach-builders imported rolling chassis to which they mounted custom built local bodies.

The largest and best known of these companies was Holden. Holden was already manufacturing bodies for other British brands, and in the mid 1920s commenced importing Austin Seven rolling chassis and selling Australian bodied Austin Sevens. Two models are believed to have been produced during this time, a tourer and a two seater convertible.

The first Australian bodied Austin 7 sports model was produced by New South Wales Motors and known as the Ace. The Wasp was built by the Melbourne Motor Body Company in 1927 and William Green of Sydney in 1929. Another sports version of the Seven, the Comet, was built by William ( Bill ) Conoulty of Sydney. The Meteor was produced by several coach-builders. James Flood of Melbourne produced a model from 1928 to 1931 and Lonzar of Adelaide produced another version. Coach-builder A. Robinson & Co. of 181 Castlereagh Street Sydney, built limited numbers of Meteors between 1928 - 1929.