Australian bodied Sevens
The Australian Government, in an attempt to establish an Australian motor industry, introduced taxes prior to World War I on imported cars. An imported chassis however attracted far less tax, as a result many Australian bodybuilding companies were formed. The largest and best known of these companies was Holden. Holdens were already manufacturing bodies for other British cars and in the mid 1920’s started producing their version of the Austin Seven on an imported chassis. Two models are believed to have been produced during this time a tourer and a two seater convertible. Another bodybuilder Latrobe built a ‘Chummy like’ body as well as a sports variation on the Seven chassis. The first Australian bodied 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. A popular sports body known as the Meteor was designed in Australia and produced by several builders. James Flood of Melbourne produced a Meteor model from 1928 to 1931. Another version, the Lonzar Meteor was manufactured in Adelaide and yet another Meteor version was built by Richardson Body Works in Sydney. Another sports version of the Seven, the Comet, was built by William (Bill) Conoulty of Sydney, New South Wales. Many other variations were common but there is little documented history. One of the main Austin dealers in Victoria during this period was Austin Distributors of 460 Bourke Street Melbourne. This company was a division of Cheney's Australia Ltd.
I am interested in any information regarding the early bodybuilding period in Australia and would be grateful for any further information.
See the Picture Gallery for some interesting Australian bodied Austin Sevens.