In mid-1934, for the 1935 selling season, the Austin Motor Company introduced new versions of the Austin Seven bearing gemstone names: the Ruby Saloon, Pearl Cabriolet and Opal Two-seater. The last has a surprisingly interesting naming history--or it does if, like me, you enjoy this sort of mind-numbing detail. Here is a small historical nugget that seems to have lain unnoticed in the catalogues until Mike Costigan unearthed it after many hours of diligent research.
For decades, Austin Seven owners have referred to the cowled-radiator Two-seater as the "Opal", its name fitting neatly alongside the contemporary Ruby and Pearl in the so-called "Jewel" range. Strictly speaking, however, the catalogues tell a different story. Those issued in 1934 and early 1935 used "Opal" for the chrome-radiator Two-seater introduced in August 1934, with the factory code APD. Yet when the final version appeared in July 1935--with a Ruby-style radiator cowl and bonnet, valanced front wings, the low-frame chassis and the factory code APE--the catalogues dropped "Opal" and reverted to the plain "Two-seater".
You can confirm this for yourself, given a spare hour and a strong constitution, by browsing the Austin Seven Clubs' Association brochure archive.
Whether an "Opal" is officially an Opal or merely a bread-and-butter Two-seater therefore depends very much on when it was made. Why Austin bestowed a gemstone name on one version and withdrew it from its successor remains a mystery (perhaps somebody in the naming department had exhausted their jewellery allowance). In everyday use, though, calling the cowled-radiator car an Opal is perfectly sensible, even if the catalogues disagree.
Much as we love the cute little Chummy and its contemporary saloons, the later "Opal" Two-seater, with its smooth-running three-bearing engine, is one of the more appealing Sevens for comfortable motoring à deux--especially in its final form with rod-operated Girling brakes. I've always fancied one…
The two advertisements shown below illustrate the naming puzzle. In the first, issued in 1935, the chrome-radiator Two-seater is listed as an "Opal", while the four-seater "Open Road" alongside it already wears a Ruby-style radiator cowl. In the second, issued in late 1936 or early 1937, the cowled car appears under the prosaic title "Two-seater". The car had gained a modern and imposing nose, but lost its precious gem.