1971 Morris MINOR

Despite proudly displaying both AA and RAC badges, this 1971 Morris Minor 1000 Traveller is, the vendor assures us, one of the most reliable cars he’s ever owned.

He bought the car last year and drove it from Southend to Hadrian’s Wall and then back to Oxfordshire. It didn’t miss a beat, we’re told. In fact, he’s only selling it now because he wanted something that offered rather more in the way of comfort for what would become regular drives between Oxfordshire and Durham.

So, naturally, he bought himself a secondhand Bentley Turbo R (which is now also on our site for your viewing pleasure).

The vendor describes this car as being basically sound but a bit tatty. From what we’ve seen, that seems a fair, honest and accurate description.

The original paintwork was ‘Aqua’ – a shade of turquoise that was only offered in 1971, the Traveller’s last year of manufacture. Today, as you can see, it is black.

In general, this is a good looking, fairly decent example of the model. Most of the wood has kept its structural and aesthetic integrity, and the panels are broadly free from creases, buckles, dents, warps, ripples, folds or bends. But closer inspection reveals a few notable exceptions to this generalisation.

There is rust here and there, but by no means everywhere. The most visible areas are on the front wings, just below the MINOR 1000 badging. Here, the rust has eaten through the surface in places and there are also numerous scratches to contend with. There are stone chips to the bonnet and, we’ve noticed, the leading edge of the bonnet leaves a bit of a gap on the n/s when closed.

The vendor tells us that the car has had new inner wings fitted in the not too distant past.

He has replaced those sections of wood most in need of replacing and has done a pretty good job of removing the black paint that had been slathered over the wood by a previous owner. There is filler visible here and there and, overall, it’s fair to say that the wood is a bit of a curate’s egg – it’s good in parts.

Some of the chrome is shiny and bright, some less so – notably the around the front fog lights and on the rear n/s bumper section.

The original wheels show a few spots of corrosion but seem to be in otherwise decent nick. The matching tyres have plenty of tread on them, but some light cracking to the sidewalls suggests that they may be getting a little long in the tooth.

The eagle-eyed among you will have spotted that this car comes with a tow bar and has, indeed, spent some of its previous life towing a small caravan around the highways and byways of this sceptered isle.

The interior of the car is pretty authentic and original. It may look a little ‘dusty’ but it is, we think, fundamentally OK.

The carpets are in reasonable conditions, the door cards and upholstery are good or quite good, depending on where you look, and while the headlining could do with being shown a sponge and some soapy water, it’s not ripped, sagging or mildewed.

The driver’s seat is covered in new vinyl, and so has the edge over the other seats, which though not too shabby, are clearly not in the first flush of youth. The metal seat frames have some surface rust, which has transferred to the carpets, but which, we think, would probably react well to some elbow grease and water.

The front seats tip to reveal intact, taught webbing underneath – always a bonus as tired webbing is responsible for many Minor drivers struggling to see over the steering wheel.

There is a small tear to the vinyl at the rear of the front passenger seat. There is a somewhat larger rip in the vinyl side liner at the o/s rear.

Looking underneath the carpets reveals that some time and money has been spent welding in new parts to the floor pan. There is little rust of any note to see.

The vendor has added a new oil pressure light and a new heater valve.

As ever with Moggy 1000s, the initial reaction upon opening the bonnet is to wonder who stole the engine. But no, there it is, about the size of a portable sewing machine and surrounded by a great deal of empty space.

There is some surface rust visible, but nothing that would make strong men faint.

The undersides show that new floor pan sections have been welded in. There is some superficial rust to some suspension components and there is a fair amount of bitumen still present and on duty.

The vendor reports that the car has new disc brakes (plus one new caliper), electronic ignition and, in years gone by, has been the grateful recipient of an unleaded cylinder head.

We’d love to able to tell you that this car has a gloriously eccentric and well-documented provenance: that its timbers came from the Cutty Sark; that it was once driven to fourth place in the Monte Carlo rally by Miss Marple; or that it has only ever been owned by relatives of the Duke of Norfolk.

But we can’t. In the brutal, minimalist parlance of the modern world, all we can say is that….it is what it is. What you see, as far as we can tell, is pretty much what you get.

It has some old MoTs, a few invoices and two sets of keys. It is not currently in possession of an MoT.

Please visit the documents section of the gallery of this listing where you will find photos of this and other paperwork to support our claim that this car has been maintained to a good standard. 

It’s a bit shabby, a bit dusty, a bit rough and ready. But we think it’s basically a good ‘un and is an honest car.

It’s one of those cars that could either be bought to use and enjoy (the vendor has nothing but praise for its reliability as a daily driver) right now, or it could be someone’s ultimate Traveller restoration project. The choice, as ever, is entirely yours.

We’re confident to offer this vehicle for auction with no reserve and an estimate in the range of £3,000 - £6,000.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with the vendor in South Oxfordshire. To arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

This vehicle is not with us at The Market’s HQ, which means we have had to rely on the owner’s description of it, in conjunction with the photographs you see here, to compile the listing.

With this in mind, we would encourage potential bidders to contact the owner themselves and arrange to view the car in person, or to arrange a dedicated video call in which they can view the car virtually and ask questions.