Vintage Thing No.71 - RA Austin 7 special

The RA Special as advertised on Ebay earlier this year. Photo : Oxford Dreamers

I don't often feature machines I haven't clapped eyes on as Vintage Things but make an exception for this device. I discovered the RA Special on a web search backalong as one of my friends - who hasn't quite got the hang of being another scrap buddy for me - suggested I check out some Austin 7 specials he'd seen. In addition to those I found this.

I did. As well as the car Brett suggested was this RA Special for sale on Ebay and after 61 bids the auction ended at £9,400. I don't know if it sold but, when you consider that it's full of new or reconditioned parts, that doesn't sound too step to me, although way out of my price range. I reckon it looks great and the performance sounds serious fun. All photos are from The Oxford Dreamers website, which includes some very interesting images of the car's construction.

Just the job for tooling around the backroads of Blighty of a summer's eve. Photo : Oxford Dreamers

I've been wondering about the performance of Austin 7 Specials for some time. The RA Special weighs 330kgs and with 45bhp from its 848cc Reliant engine it will get do the 0-60 dash in around 7 seconds. Not bad for 1935. Okay so the engine's a bit more modern but the Reliant is a hereditary Austin 7 motor.

It was created by The Oxford Dreamers for the 2008 Le Mans Classic. I didn't see you at the 2010 event gentlemen. Were you present?

The Oxford Dreamers modestly let it be known on their website that they learnt a lot from making RA Special number 1. Number 2 was benefitted from this experience. Quality materials but together well and kept simple will always stand out from the crowd. Photo : Oxford Dreamers

In fact, it's number two of a series of three so is pretty exclusive. The idea of the Dreamers was to recreate a kind of baby Bugatti and I reckon they succeeded admirably. The naming of specials is an open sport and a combination of Austin 7 and Bugatti could be a Bugin or an Austinatti, although there's nothing wrong with the workmanlike RA Special.

Austin 7s have a poor reputation for braking. I've never understood why. Motorcycles get away with effective cable brakes. Many Austin 7 specials received hydraulic brakes from the rival Morris Minor and this is what I'd be tempted to fit to mine, if and when I got one.


The Oxford Dreamers developed an all Bowden cable braking system for the RA Special. They freely admit on their site (what - you haven't checked it out yet?) that original system of equalising pulleys is not very effective. Well done chaps - you've probably kept the unsprung weight down with this wizard wheeze.

The Oxford Dreamers site is well worth a visit for the other stuff they feature. I particularly like the cardboard mock up they produced to determine the templates for cutting the ally sheet. And the way they sorted out the wiring loom. It makes special look easy and absolute riot.

Hitherto, the nicest Austin 7 I'd seen was the Cambridge Special, which retains its Austin 7 radiator but the Bugatti-ness of the RA Special makes me tempted to revise this status in favour of the RA Special from our pedigree chums in Oxford. And it's so damned shiny. I may not have the wonga to guy it but if I invest now in shares in Solvol Autosol one day it could be mine - mmmwwwhhahaha!