Minor Matters

We tend to associate the label of classic car with the more exotic and expensive marques, supercars, rarities and those models once owned by celebrities and movie stars. Classic refers to the post war era of motoring rather than what would be categorised as veteran and vintage.

Spotty Youth (me) at Donington in 1980 looking at Series MM

The affectionately named "Moggy" ,the Morris Minor is one of that select minority of mass produced vehicles that has endured in terms of character and charm to become a true classic.

There is a unique distinctiveness about the bulbous, curvy body style that places it in the same league as the VW Beetle but more than that is the practicality and relative ease of repair and maintenance that really makes it accessible to everyone as not just a collectible vehicle but also an everyday one.

Between 1948, when the first version of the Minor rolled off the production line, and 1961 there were one million on the roads across the globe and at a price putting it within the budget of the common man and woman.

A not untypical Morris Minor owner 

The Minor was associated with the local midwife, the police force and the vicar and its variants included the shooting brake type Traveller which was a forerunner of the estate car.

My parents purchased a 6 year old olive green soft top/convertible Minor, registration 798 CPP just before I was born in 1963. In its lifetime it survived a small dashboard fire when a garage owner leaned in with his tobacco pipe as well as the normal ravages of corrosion from the regular use of road gritting salt in the inclement UK climate.

My father had a keen mechanical understanding and skill and would often be found under the bonnet or with his feet sticking out from the jacked up chassis when things needed doing.

As first born son I was given regular training on basic procedures such as spark plug change, oil and tyre pressure checks in an attempt to develop in me an instinct and aptitude for car maintenance. I am ashamed to say that I was not really that interested. Perhaps I knew, deep down, that I was destined to be a company car driver with responsibility only for re-fuelling and wash wipe top-up.

I, along with my two sisters, did learn to drive in the Minor although my Father spent the many hours of lessons with a firm grip on the handbrake, just in case when it was my turn behind the large oversized steering wheel.

The family moved regularly and the car followed us typically loaded up to the soft roof with boxes and loose garden furniture and toys. It was also a great vehicle to shift hordes of children and in the days before compulsory seat belts it would regularly take about twelve under 10's arranged top to toe on the back seat and in the boot.

With five children of their own by 1975 my parents had to opt for a large estate car and so the Minor was to some extent garaged apart from a few runs out every year to keep things from seizing up.

Through the Morris Minor Owners Club (MMOC) my Father kept touch with other enthusiasts and began to stockpile a range of spare parts including a set of front wings. He was aware that the demands of modern motorists and rapidly developing technology would someday sound the death knell for the Minor in the UK.

It was produced until 1970 from Cowley in Oxfordshire reaching a run of about 1.6 million vehicles and its place in the classic car world was already assured.

In 1980 I went with my father in the Minor to Donington Park Race Circuit for a rally held by the MMOC. A total of 240 other Morris Minors made their own way to the venue including from Europe to be judged in different classes for originality or customisation. One exhibitor had built a Minor entirely from parts bought from the factory and some of the smaller engine components still had manufacturers stickers on them.

Always a bit of a purist my where the car was concerned my Father did surprise us all by splashing out on a set of Wolfrace Alloys which did look great.

The Minor was soon part of a small collection of my Father's cars stored in lock up garages around the town including a 1966 Mini and a 1971 VW Variant Squareback. Sadly, Father passed away in 2011 and the older cars were sold but only to strictly vetted enthusiasts. My youngest brother still runs the Variant.

798 CPP went to a lovely family, already owners of a hard top Minor and is a regular sight on local roads and on the concourse of motor shows.

I always look out for the instantly recognisable shape of a Morris Minor or rather listen for that distinctive 1000CC engine sound when travelling around as part of my work. There is a nucleus of these much loved vehicles that make all too rare appearances and I am proud to have spent 48 years of my life in the company of such a car.

I do admit that it may not have got this far at all given that in one of my Father's Master Classes on Morris Minor maintenance I forgot to tighten up the bolts after a wheel change which became very evident some miles down the road..............................................................................................