DAVID WORTLEY’S AUSTIN 7 RN SALOON REGISTERED WJ 3246 – 1 MARCH 1932
David Wortley’s RN has been in the family 86 years. ‘My dad Albert bought it in 1936 for £40, the third owner in four years. As a bachelor living with his mum he had plenty of spending money. The earliest photo of WJ3246 was taken in 1938 of Dad outside his mum’s house. For 47 years it was his daily driver. He never had any bother with it so didn’t see much point in replacing it. It was adequate for his needs and once he had a growing family he didn’t have spare money. We’ve lost track of the mileage because the speedo only reads to 9999 miles. It’s probably not done a huge number because Dad’s round trip to work was ten miles and sometimes he took the bus. We would go out for day trips, me, my sister and grandma, plus Mum and Dad. Also, sometimes a week’s holiday in Scarborough. Dad fitted a roof rack plus a carrier at the back for our suitcases.
‘In 1964 I passed my test in it, then we shared it until 1967 when I bought a Ruby. By then the RN was suffering from rot where the windscreen pillars joined onto the roof. In fact the two pieces were no longer connected – on one adverse-camber lefthand bend I remember steering with my left hand and hanging onto the driver’s door with my right. In 1969 it was taken off the road for a tidy-up; by 1971 it was back in everyday use. One of the last photos I have of Mum and Dad with the car is in the Peak District in 1983. They loved going there for a picnic. Sadly he gave up driving soon afterwards because of poor eyesight.’
David then took it on, although it took until 2003 to rebuild it. ‘I replaced the three-speed gearbox with a four; it was then easier to keep up with modern traffic. I used it for my 20-mile commute until retiring in 2007. Now I use it once a week to go out with other pensioners for Sunday lunch in the Peak District.’