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1971 Morris Minor

14 Bids Winner - mikee
10:11 PM, 26 Mar 2017Vehicle sold
Sold for

£19,000

Winner - mikee

Background

You may have seen us list this car before, unfortunately the last winning bidder was lucky enough to win the auction but not lucky enough to be able come up with the final funds. So now somebody else has the opportunity to secure the ownership of this truly unique car.

The Morris Minor is the quintessential British car, and the Traveller, or ‘Woodie’ as it is fondly known, is the quintessential British estate. Whether it’s shuttling the cricket team’s afternoon tea to the village green or bringing armfuls of flowers to the church fete, nothing whispers more convincingly of a gentler, kinder time than the Morris Minor Traveller.

Yet the standard Moggie isn’t without its faults. It’s a bit too slow for modern traffic, whether on acceleration, top speed cruising, or under braking. The handling isn’t great either, and the road holding is distinctly, er, ‘period’. So updating and modernising them is a well-trodden path for those that want to enjoy the Minor’s good looks and period char in 21st century Britain.

  • 8800 (since rebuild)
  • 1800
  • Manual
  • Violet Purple
  • Brown

Background

You may have seen us list this car before, unfortunately the last winning bidder was lucky enough to win the auction but not lucky enough to be able come up with the final funds. So now somebody else has the opportunity to secure the ownership of this truly unique car.

The Morris Minor is the quintessential British car, and the Traveller, or ‘Woodie’ as it is fondly known, is the quintessential British estate. Whether it’s shuttling the cricket team’s afternoon tea to the village green or bringing armfuls of flowers to the church fete, nothing whispers more convincingly of a gentler, kinder time than the Morris Minor Traveller.

Yet the standard Moggie isn’t without its faults. It’s a bit too slow for modern traffic, whether on acceleration, top speed cruising, or under braking. The handling isn’t great either, and the road holding is distinctly, er, ‘period’. So updating and modernising them is a well-trodden path for those that want to enjoy the Minor’s good looks and period char in 21st century Britain.

Overview

Yet this is not your average mechanically updated Morris Minor Traveller. It’s not even your average fully restored, mechanically updated Morris Minor Traveller. 

No, this is something far more special. ‘Tilly’ is a £55,000, 160bhp street sleeper of an estate car that can keep up with almost anything on the roads today. It just happens to look like a Morris Minor Traveller.

Exterior

The Moggie was stripped back to a bare shell and then expensively repainted in a subtle Volkswagen violet purple metallic. 

All the wood was also replaced with brand new sections, which is not something your average body shop is capable of. The whole lot cost an absolute fortune but was worth every single penny because the finish is flawless even after ten years of (albeit careful and moderate) use.

Interior

If you think the quality of the bodywork is good, then you are going to love the interior, the quality of which is so high that parallels with a contemporary Bentley or Bristol are inevitable and not wholly inappropriate - and not just because of the beautiful machine-turned centre dash, a trademark of marque expert Jonathan Heap of JLH Morris Minors.

The floor and boot have been carefully lined in red carpet, which looks amazing and matches the piping on the reupholstered leather seats. 

A decent stereo and a lovely wood-rimmed steering wheel finish off what is one of the nicest car interiors we’ve seen for a very long time.

Mechanical

The 1.8-litre Rover K-series engine now pushes out 160bhp through a five-speed Ford Sierra gearbox and Ford Escort rear differential. All that power is kept firmly in check by modified coilover suspension and all-round disc brakes.

The previous two sentences make the re-engineering that installing modern components in an old car sound simple. It wasn’t, and it is a testament to the quality of the installation that it looks like something that could have come out of the Morris factory. (In fact, scrub that; nothing that ever came out of the Morris factory was this well finished…)

History

The online MOT history shows a full ten years’ worth of MOTs, and there is not one single advisory, much less a failure point. 

The two-year restoration in 2005-07 was fully documented and recorded in minute detail. It has also been featured in various magazines, a copy of which is included in the history below as well as over 200 additional photographs. The finished car is well-known in the Morris Minor world. Provenance rarely comes more complete than this.

Summary

It takes a lot to impress seasoned professionals like us. It takes even more to stun us, but this Morris Minor Traveller has left us close to speechless. It is utterly fantastic, and looks as good in the flesh as it does in the photographs.

But what no photograph can convey is how well this thing drives. It is an absolute revelation and the guide price of £22-24,000 (with a lower reserve) would be a ridiculously small sum to pay for such a fantastic car. 

This is your chance to buy what might well be the definitive example of a post-modern Morris Minor. One thing’s for sure; you’ll never run into another!

The car is currently with us at Patina so can be viewed by contacting us on +44 (0) 1865 521 088. Alternatively to send any questions to the owners please use the 'Contact Seller' button above or ask any questions in the comments or view our frequently asked questions below.

About this auction

Seller

Private: dickm

Viewings Welcome

Viewing is strongly encouraged, and is strictly by appointment. To book one in the diary, please get in contact.

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