The 'Seven', probably Austin's most famous model, was designed during 1921 and 1922 by Sir Herbert Austin and Stanley Edge in response to the Company's serious financial problems.

Austin's real inspiration was to design the Seven as a large car in miniature, to carry two adults and two children. It had a water-cooled four cylinder engine and could do up to 50 miles per gallon.

All early Sevens had open bodywork like this 'Chummy' tourer. Later, saloons joined the range and the chassis grew longer. The Seven was also the inspiration for several foreign manufacturers, such as BMW's Dixi, the French Rosengart and the Japanese Datsun Seven.

During 17 years of production almost 300,000 Austin Sevens were made.