Club gains huge model stash
Die-hard Moggy fan gifts massive Minor model collection to club
A Florida-based Morris Minor fan has donated his cache of 600 Morris Minor miniatures to the Morris Minor Owners’ Club (MMOC).
86-year-old Moggy enthusiast Peter Palmer comes to the UK twice a year from the United States; he keeps a 1965 Minor in the UK and 1958 example back home in the USA.
He got the idea to rehome his models – made by Lledo and Vanguards in 1:43 scale – after visiting the MMOC’s headquarters in Derby and noticing an empty wall in its committee room.
He said: ‘It’s where I could see my models going – and being enjoyed. They’ve been more than well-received by the club; more than half of them haven’t been out of their boxes since I got them.’
Peter explained that the rarest Minors in the collection, which span all variants and body styles of the Issigonis icon, are the limited-run vans produced for the likes of private firms and other Morris Minor clubs.
The MMOC bought the seven cases Peter’s models now sit in; they were shown to the public for the first time during a club open day on 13 October.
Commenting on the gift, Ray Newell, MMOC club secretary, said: ‘It has been a pleasure to work with Peter in getting the collection to the UK and a challenge to catalogue and display the models in a setting that befits its rarity and size.
‘It has been a pleasure to welcome Peter, his wife Sallie and his family to view the collection in person and very satisfying to hear their very appreciative comments about the way the models have been presented for other MMOC members to enjoy.’
‘It’s where I could see my models going, and being enjoyed – and half are still in boxes!’ peter palmer