Austin Seven Ruby

This 1936 Austin Seven Ruby is a pre-war small saloon with an unusually well-documented life. It shows 64,537 miles, and most of those were covered under its first owner, who bought it new from Mann Egerton in May 1936 for £125 and kept it for at least three decades.

That owner kept the original data card, the purchase invoice, dealer correspondence and a 1937 photograph of the car. He also logged every journey and every item of maintenance until January 1963, when the odometer read 63,194. A later owner briefly resumed the log in 1991, and five MOT certificates from 1990 to 2006 track the small rise in mileage since.

Later history includes six owners after the first, a long spell in Scotland, a period on display at the Scottish Vintage Bus Museum and a sale at auction in Perth. Invoices cover a new wiring loom, a refurbished starter motor, ammeter and voltage regulator, plus a 1988 overhaul of the brakes, steering, suspension and propshaft. The dealer describes it as running and driving, with a working sunroof and original patina. It also advises buyers to check the mileage themselves.