he Austin Seven catapulted Herbert Austin's company in much the same way as the Model T did for Henry Ford's. While the Model T is credited with putting America on wheels, the Austin Seven did the same in England. Also in Eurpoe, where it was made under license in Germany by Dixi and their successor BMW; and in France by Rosengart.

Australia, too, provided a fertile market for the Austin Seven. With the Australian government levying heavy import duties on completely finished cars, the Austin Motor Company got around that by sending rolling chassis "down under." There, local body builders could add their own coachwork prior to sale, thus avoiding some of the duties on the car.

The sedan was the most popular body style, but many coachbuilders offered sporting body styles similar to those available in England.

From the Australian viewpoint, the most stylish and well-made sports model was undoubtedly Bill Conolty's Austin Seven Comet.

Thomas William (Bill) Conoulty was not a physically big man, in fact, quite the contrary. Like many successful motorcycle racers and racing car drivers, he was jockey-like in size, standing barely 5-foot-6 and weighing 120 pounds. Although slight of build, he was a fierce competitor on the track and a successful businessman.

Conoulty was born in Newtown, Sydney, on November 16, 1899 and died on December 12, 1960. His father was a butcher and wanted his son to continue on in the family business but young Bill was seeking something more exciting. At age 16, he left school and was apprenticed to the Petrol Economics Company, owned and run by the Howarth family, who were well-known in motoring circles in Sydney. At night, Bill studied to be a toolmaker at the Ultimo Technical College.

Harry Howarth actively encouraged Conoulty's passion for motor sport, and it was not long before Bill bought his first machine, a 1908 Norton TT. In 1917, as an 18-year-old, he entered a 1,000-yard hill climb at Bondi, today a fashionable Sydney north shore beachside suburb, and won at an average speed of 60 mph. In the process he defeated a strong field of experienced factory-supported riders.

Over the next two years Conoulty entered and won several more hill climbs, at first on a Douglas and later on an Indian Scout. But these successes earned him only partial sponsorship from Howarths, so he departed the Petrol Economics Company for the Indian motorcycle distributors, Biden and Roberts. Why is not recorded because he was back to square-one with no sponsorship˜he had to finance his racing activities out of his own pocket as Biden and Roberts already had its own team riders. Nevertheless, Conoulty regularly defeated his employer's riders.

In an article published in Wheels magazine in 1955, writer John D. Dukes described Conoulty thus: "He was regarded as a genuine demon rider to whom the rails were merely an obstruction to stop others getting past on the inside. To followers of motorcycle racing the 20-year old Conoulty was the rider of the day, the cleanest, most daring, and most heroic. He was set for the big time."

Read more about the Austin Seven in Back Issue - Volume 42 Number 1