Morris Oxford MO
Nick says he will definitely return Oscar the Oxford to the road – eventually. Maybe. Then again…
1953 MORRIS OXFORD MO
Oscar, my 1953 Morris Oxford – a vehicle offering depths of joy so considerable that they have never been fully chartered – is settling happily into new accommodation closer to home.
‘A proper car from a proper era,’ as I would say, Oscar has been in Larkin ownership since 2007, when he was in dire need of a home. Having been off the road since 1972, he had passed to the original owner’s son, and had to go.
Not only did Oscar have a rebuilt engine but he was extremely sound. I wanted to take on a project that was not too difficult, but would have some challenges. Oscar was, and indeed is, a solid beast with a great original interior. Most of the bits not on him are in a large box, though he does need a petrol tank.
Nev Holmes, top chap and nowadays chairman of the 6/80 & MO Oxford & Cowley Club, kindly transported Oscar to a Nottinghamshire barn, where it was agreed that with some help he would get it running and maybe even wobble down to the MoT station.
I had idyllic visions of tinkering with Oscar on balmy summer’s evenings with cows peering over the fence and mooing encouragement. Sadly, for a myriad of reasons – with illness and excessive workloads among the various protagonists – this never happened.
Oscar did, however make his second journey of the new millennium when, after having had some bits hastily put back on him, he was trailered to the DVLA Regional Office (remember them?) in Nottingham for inspection in 2012.
Someone had taken a fancy to his registration number, DEB 262, which had ended up being offered via a dealer for £4500. Oscar won his case and kept his number.
To be honest, little has happened since, and the barn space he was occupying was needed, so Oscar had to be removed by the end of 2017. As was the case in 2007, the queue of would-be MO restorers wasn’t exactly stretching around the block and I didn’t want to see Oscar broken for spares. I was tempted to have him at Larkin Towers but I just don’t have the room.
However, barn space has kindly been made available for the Morris alongside my two Rover project vehicles – a 1963 P4 and 1964 P6 – and Oscar is now happily residing in a barn just a stone’s throw from the Isle of Ely, where he was originally registered. I owe grateful thanks to Nev Holmes for all his support.
Oscar is now very happy, but three projects? Time for some thinking!
’I had idyllic visions of tinkering with Oscar on balmy summer’s evenings’