In recent years Gordon England “Cup” replicas have become very popular in the Austin Seven world so it was gratifying to know that this bodyshell was to be fitted to a chassis with genuine G.E. provenance. My customer was able to borrow an old body and despite its decrepit state it yielded invaluable measurements and clues about construction. Much time was spent trawling through old photos – taking great care to ignore any replicas which often deviated markedly from the original. In researching the project I found that there were two variations of Cup shells; the ones with smaller doors tend to be stronger so that directed our choice.  

A set of jigs kept everything square during assembly. There is barely a straight line anywhere on one of these bodies so establishing fixed datum points is essential and diagonals were checked frequently. Once glued in place the 1.6mm ply made the frame into a very strong structure.

Amazingly when complete the timberwork including the doors and boot frame weighed in at just 19kgs.

The car is now fully reassembled and as well as being beautifully upholstered it benefits from many of the original fixtures and fittings which are often absent on reproductions. Knowing its owner I’m delighted to say that it will be used and enjoyed as enthusiastically as any Seven. Now I have a set of jigs and templates I have been able to supply another similar body.