Kicking off a new feature here on Ranting Stan in which I look back at the cars of my childhood and youth in a shameless nostalgia trip is the Morris Minor.
The Moggy was the car that brought driving to the masses - long before the more popular Mini arrived on the scene. Cheap to buy, easy to maintain, rugged, reliable, roomy and comfortable - the Morris Minor became a post war icon that owed much to pre-war mechanicals.
Designed by Sir Alex Issigonis - the man behind the later Mini - the Morris Minor was in production from 1948 until 1971 with more than 1.6 million cars coming off the line in various versions. It was available as a 2 door, 4 door, estate (Traveller) soft top and van.
When I was a lad in the sixties, the Minor was a standard feature in every high street, road and avenue. A truly classless car, Minors graced the grass verges of the council estates as well as the posh drives of the well to do families. As many of my peers reached driving age their first car was often a Minor (though not in my case) and often one they inherited from their father, grandfather, uncle or aunt.
Designed in Britain, built in Britain and bought and driven by Britons in their thousands there are few cars that evoke Britishness more than the Morris Minor.
2 comments:
The Minor was designed in England and built in England.
I had one of those I brought off a "friend". It had had a very inept rebore and went for about two thousand miles before all the upper piston rings broke and it started clattering like a lawn mower. The front suspension units had also been replaced without the locking tabs and the front wheel detached itself while going round a roundabout on the A23.
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