Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) morris minor 1000 as good as a Mog?

Morris 1000 - what can you say . A friend of mine drove one from Port Elisabeth to London and back !!! thats all along the east african coast and down to Cape Town and then up to PE etc . The car was a 1954 model unmodified in any way. Had three punctures and that was it. Have all the pics to prove it

They are a bit modern by comparison with a trad morgan of course!

If you have never had a classic car then I guess there might well be an itch to scratch. But for me, all that any classic car or bike has done is to convince me how much better the modern offerings are in every possible way. I dont really reckon that everyday family saloons can be classics anyway. To me that word implies something that was special in its day, so a Healey 3000 would be a classic or an XK120 but not a Moggie. That would simply be a rusting old banger.

But it would be a miserable world if everyone felt the same about everything. There may even be people out there who see the Morris Marina as a classic. And of course there are people buying wood framed cars in the third millenium.

The Morris 1000 was prone to shedding a front wheel when the lower trunnion wore out. I once co-drove one for about five miles with the suspension lashed up with rope. I recall it jumped out three times on the way.

Not only lower trunnion. real problem was lack of any serious grease/oilway to lube the kingpin.
I have fond memories of being with mate and one of his front wheels overtaking us

G

We have much in common G.........more than one might suppose. Since my ancestors came from Hereford, perhaps we should organise a DNA test.

I often pass through Hereford on the way up to Hartlebury ( then of course going via historic Stoke Lacy and Moreton Jeffries) but I always try to make it as quickly as possible in case some archer comes out of the Cathedral Close and takes a shot at me with his longbow!
It's always been the same in the Marches. I used to go up there to play rugby when I was in school and the fact that it was either the Cathedral School or Belmont Abbey which both had at least some tradition of an upright, christian education didn't stop it being the annual bloodbath

Hey ho, happy days

G

There are (no, not I)

I owned a Morris Minor in the seventies, an ex-GPO van in fact. Of its many endearing features the best was its ability to start under any conditions. Cold mornings, up to its wheel arches in a soggy field, under several feet of snow or after standing unused for a month, it could be 100% relied upon to start with the merest flick of the key. I’m sure sometimes I hadn’t turned the key at all and the car had fired itself into action by detecting my desire to set off. I always wondered why the combination of technology and mechanics that achieved that in the Morris 1000 hadn’t been used in every car that followed.

It certainly wasn't evident in the Marina, one of which I also owned, whose continued failure to start was often a blessed relief. My love and knowledge of buses can trace its roots to Marina ownership.

~iw

I served my time as an apprentice Mechanic in the sixties.working at a BMC garage ..
As young mechanic we used our parts collection van a Moggy 1000 to get parts and go to breakdowns!!!!!
The things that van had to put up with..

1/ You could rev it to valve bounce in every gear and make the exhaust go POOOW then change gear.
2/Corner so hard it would go round on 3 wheels .
3/Change gear with out the clutch ,we destroyed many gearboxes.Lever used to come out in your hand.
4/Get it Air born over the local railway bridge.
5/Burn out the brakes and break the half shafts..
Young and foolish..but great fun, far more entertaining than a Mini van

Does anyone remember the original Minor- the MM.? A veritable flying machine with faired- in headlamps!

Like Ian W, my Moggie van was an ex GPO model
One thing I always remember was that it had a hasp and a padlock on the rear door.
We took it on a climbing trip to North Wales- full of food , sleeping bags, ropes, slings etc but unfortunately the rear door leaked and after one downpour we discovered that all the labels had come away from the tinned food stuff.

They were catering tins, all the same shape and size, so we spent the next five days playing pot luck as to their contents.

I still have vivid memories of a cooked breakfast with tinned peaches
G