During 1996 I was still trying to find a number of items to start the restoration of my 1929 ‘c’ cab bakers van. One item that eluded me among many was a second bucket seat. I had already acquired one from another fellow but my luck changed when I received a telephone call from a friend who advised me of an advertisment in the local paper for an Austin seven tourer for sale in our Melbourne neighbouring suburb of Hampton.
An elderly gentleman by the name of Gordon Hofsteed was the owner of the car and he was downsizing into a retirement village and needed to dispose of some of his possessions including his one family owner 1927 chummy purchased new. When viewed, the car was a Melbourne body works model, 99.9% complete tourer with only two small dents in one rear guard otherwise straight as a die.
Gordon had inherited the car from his uncle after his passing in the 70’s and used it locally but was constantly embarrassed by children comparing it with a Noddy car. Fed up, he purchased a purpose built shed had it installed in his back yard and located the Austin in out of harms way.
Prior to that, for some unknown reason he was inspired to purchase a 1931 seven and dismantled it and disposed of the unwanted parts.
Upon inspection of the chummy it was still fully road registered, the engine had been removed, the vinyl roof had disintegrated due to the sheds roof rusting away and the remains of the 1931 model stored within the car.
When the time came to collect the car, the tyres inflated sufficiently to remove it from the shed however, the years of storage neglect paid a heavy toll on the cream paintwork. After I had removed everything from within I realised that the only way that I could clean it up was to hit it with a high pressure washer which made a big difference.
This delightful ‘as found shed find’ was so original and complete that it was a great help with answers as to what goes where and is it original etc, so much so that the Austin seven club borrowed it on occasions to display it for promotional purposes.
I kept the Austin for many years, I had acquired the extra seat that I needed from Gordons 1931 wreck and moved it on at the Bendigo swap meet to a Queenslander.
After losing contact with the new owner for sometime I am delighted to know that it now resides with a friend of mine who is intent in keeping it in its original condition and restoring it.
