Pour une voiture aux dimensions aussi réduites, la Seven fit longtemps parler d'elle. Lancé en 1922, ce minuscule véhicule, dont la longueur totale était de 2,692 m, permit à la société Austin qui commençait à s'essouffler de prendre un nouveau départ, et laissa une empreinte indélébile dans l'histoire de l'automobile. Le chef de la compagnie, Herbert Austin, n'était que trop conscient du succès phénoménal, en termes de ventes, du modèle T de Ford, et pensait fermement qu'une voiture plus petite et plus légère, mais tout aussi abordable, ne pourrait que s'imposer. De nombreux membres de la direction n'en étaient cependant pas aussi convaincus, et il fallut qu'Austin menace de céder la conception de la voiture à son concurrent (et ancien employeur), Wolseley, pour obtenir leur accord à contrecœur.
   La voiture était d'une simplicité désarmante. Elle pesait juste 360 kg, et son moteur minuscule à soupapes latérales de 696 cm3 ne développait que 10,5 ch au départ. L'avant était suspendu par un ressort à lames transversal et l'arrière par des ressorts quart-elliptiques ; sur les premières voitures, les amortisseurs étaient jugés superflus. Restant fidèle à son objectif initial, celui d'être un moyen de transport abordable, la Seven subit de nombreuses améliorations par la suite. En 1939, date à laquelle elle cessa d'être produite, près de 220 000 modèles avaient été réalisés.
   Bien que la voiture fût au départ destinée au marché britannique, elle devint populaire dans le monde entier. La Seven, construite sous licence en France par Rosengart, fut la première voiture fabriquée par BMW (sous le nom de Dixi), et contribua, de manière indirecte, à la fondation d'une industrie automobile japonaise, puisque Nissan en copia entièrement la conception pour son modèle type 15. L'histoire de Jaguar est liée à celle de l'Austin Seven, car le fondateur de la marque, William Lyons, créa diverses variantes de carrosserie sous la bannière de Swallow avant de devenir un constructeur automobile à part entière. Ajoutons à cela que Colin Chapman fabriqua sa première Lotus en s'inspirant de la Seven, faisant ainsi de celle-ci une voiture légendaire. D'autres suivirent son exemple et, ce faisant, fondèrent l'industrie de voitures de course britannique, chose qu'Herbert Austin n'aurait jamais pu imaginer.
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   Austin had, before World War I, built mainly large cars but in 1909 they sold a single cylinder 7 hp built by Swift of Coventry called the Austin Seven. After this they returned to bigger cars, but Sir Herbert Austin felt a smaller car would be more popular, in spite of protestations from the company's board of directors who were concerned about the financial status of the company. Austin won them over by threatening to take the idea to their competitor Wolseley, and got permission to start on the design which was by him (chassis, suspension etc) and Stanley Edge (engine) working together from 1921 into 1922 at Austin's home, Lickey Grange. Austin put a large amount of his own money into the design and patented many of its innovations in his own name. In return for the investment he was paid a royalty of two guineas (£2, 2s), (£2.10) on every car sold.
   Two thousand cars were made in the first year of production, not as many as hoped, but within a few years the "big car in miniature" had wiped out the cyclecar industry and transformed the fortunes of Austin. By 1939 when production finally ended, 290,000 cars and vans had been made.
   In 2007, during an episode of Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson and James May studied a number of early car designs (including the Ford Model T and the De Dion-Bouton Model Q and concluded that the Austin Seven was the first mass-market car to be fitted with a 'conventional' control layout, as found on modern cars (although the earliest car they found to use this layout was a Cadillac).
   The Austin 7 was considerably smaller than the Ford Model T. The wheelbase was only 6 ft 3 inches (1.905 m), and the track only 40 inches (1.016 m). Equally it was lighter - less than half the Ford's weight at 794 pounds (360 kg). The engine required for adequate performance was therefore equally reduced and the 747 cc sidevalve was quite capable with a modest 10 hp output.
   The chassis took the form of an "A" with the engine mounted between the channel sections at the narrow front end. The rear suspension was by quarter elliptic springs cantilevered from the rear of the chassis while at the front the beam axle had a centrally mounted half elliptic transverse spring. Early cars did not have any shock absorbers. Brakes were on all wheels but at first the front brakes were operated by the handbrake and the rear by the footbrake becoming fully coupled in 1930.
   Steering is by worm and wheel mechanism.
   The four cylinder 747 cc, 56 mm bore by 76 mm stroke, side valve engine was composed of an aluminium crankcase, cast iron cylinder block and cast iron cylinder head. The splash lubricated crankshaft (pressure fed on some sports models) at first ran in two bearings changing to three in 1936. An electric starter was fitted from November 1923 and although the early cars used magneto ignition, this changed to coil in 1928.
   The 3 speed and reverse gearbox was built in-unit with the engine and had a variety of ratios depending on application. A four speed gearbox was introduced in 1932 and in 1933 synchromesh was added to third and top ratios extending to second gear in 1934.
   The back axle was of spiral bevel type with ratios between 4.4:1 and 5.6:1. A short torque tube runs forward from the differential housing to a bearing and bracket on the rear axle cross member.
   Reliant used a derivative of the Austin Seven engine for their early three-wheelers, before developing an aluminium alloy engine (used as the replacement for the Austin Seven engine by the 750 Motor Club in their Formula 750 motor sport).
   In 1927, William Lyons, co-founder of the Swallow Sidecar Company, saw the commercial potential of producing a rebodied Austin 7. Lyons commissioned the talented coachbuilder Cyril Holland to produce a distinctive open tourer: the Austin Seven Swallow.
   With its bright two-tone colour scheme and a style in befitting more expensive cars of the time, together with its low cost (£175), the Swallow proved popular and was followed in 1928 by a saloon version: the Austin Seven Swallow Saloon.
   Approximately 3500 bodies of various styles were produced up until 1932 when Lyons started making complete cars under the SS brand.
   Such was the demand for the Austin Seven Swallows that Lyons was forced to move in 1928 from Blackpool to new premises in Coventry. It was, in part, the success of the Swallows that laid the foundations of what was to become, by 1945, Jaguar Cars
   Versions of the Austin 7 were made under licence by American Austin from 1930, Dixi (later bought by BMW) in Germany from 1927 and Rosengart in France from 1928. In addition, chassis and running gear were exported to Japan and Australia to have locally made bodies attached.
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