Morris Minor 1000
After a lifetime of owning an impressive selection of cars, many of which are now considered to be exotic classics, the owner of this subtly modified Morris Minor reckons he’s found the perfect 'Q' car
A series of sensible upgrades has totally transformed how this ‘hot’ Minor drives.
L ast year marked 70 years since the start of Morris Minor production at the Cowley plant in Oxfordshire and from those humble beginnings this long-term family favourite has gone on to evolve into the UK’s very own ‘Peoples Car’. The start of the Minor story goes back to the dark days of 1943 when the noted design engineer Alec Issigonis and a small team of engineers at Morris Motors started to sketch out the primary drawings for project Mosquito, the codename for the development of a small family car that would go into production shortly after the Second World War finally came to an end in 1945.
Shown to the public for the first time at the Earls Court Motor show in October 1948, the Series MM Lowlight was billed as ‘The World’s Supreme Small Car’. Power came from a 918cc side valve engine and variants displayed at launch included a two- door saloon and a canvas topped tourer. There are quite a few anecdotes surrounding the Minor development, such as how the engine bay was originally designed to accommodate a flat four and that a late decision after the press tools had been machined resulted in the Minor’s bodyshell being widened by four inches.
A close inspection of an MM Lowlight shows how late in the design process this decision was taken, as the bumpers on these early Minors were already in production and have a body coloured filet bolted in the
middle to widen them. Another identifier is that all versions right up to the end of production in 1971 featured a ridge down the centre line of the bonnet where the extra four inches of metal had been let in.
The Minor’s headlights were relocated from each side the grille to the top of the front wings in 1951 and the following year the much-improved MkII came on stream powered by a 803cc Austin designed A-Series engine. A further upgrade in 1956 resulted with the introduction of the 948cc powered Minor 1000, the most visible exterior features being the inclusion of a one-piece front windscreen and a larger rear window. In 1961 the Minor became the first British car to sell a million units and the final major upgrade to this long running model was for the 1962 model year when the Minor received a more powerful 1098cc engine. HANDS ON CLASSIC Martin Howard is the owner of our featured car and explained how the car before he retired from his job as an engineer was a V12 E-Type Jaguar. “I liked the E-Type but it wasn’t a car you could fiddle around with. What I really wanted was a classic that could be worked on in my garage when time permitted and, as I’ve owned dozens of cars in my time that are now classics from an Austin Seven to the aforementioned E-Type, a car like the Minor fitted the bill perfectly”, explained Martin. When we asked Martin when
he purchased the Minor now sitting in his garage, he told us that was back in 2008.
Martin then went on to says: “I bought the Morris from a friend who had unfortunately become ill and needed to sell it. A closer inspection revealed the car was structurally very sound and it fitted the bill perfectly. My idea was that I could go into the garage at the start of winter and work on the car until the better weather arrived and have it finished by the spring”.
When we asked what had been done to the car, Martin confessed that when he first drove the Minor, he wasn’t that impressed with the performance of the drum brakes and thought there was definitely room for improvement.
“After buying the Minor, I set about thinking what could be done to improve it. If the car had stayed in production rather than being withdrawn in 1971, I’m sure BL would have updated it and fitted all the latest technology that was available at the time to extend the car’s life.”
We were now quite intrigued to find out exactly what Martin has done to his Minor, as looking at the photographs he originally sent to us, the car looks like a totally standard 1970, four-door 1098cc Morris Minor. However, we know that looks can often deceive, so the next question we had to ask Martin was what’s actually been done to the car since he took it over.
Before reeling off the list of major jobs that been done to his car, Martin told us how he’d thought long and hard about modifying it and came to the conclusion that safety was paramount. In his view, the Minor had to be comfortable to drive on a long journey and be able to hold its own when mixing and matching alongside modern traffic.
“While the original 1098cc A-Series engine was quite perky, I did a lot of research and decided to replace it with a
1275cc engine from a Marina. This was mated to a five-speed gearbox and the transformation was just amazing,” exclaimed an obviously delighted Martin who then went on to emphasis how the Minor’s brakes had been improved to deal with the extra power. “The upgrade to the brakes included fitting front discs and a vacuum operated servo. This has really improved the Minor’s braking performance and I also fitted a front anti-roll bar kit to beef up the steering”, added a very enthusiastic Martin.
This ambitious owner didn’t stop with the mechanical upgrades, as the next job was to improve the Minor’s cabin. “As you probably know, the Minor’s seats aren’t the greatest and there’s no head support, so they could be quite dangerous in an accident. I spent a while looking around for alternatives and ended up buying a pair of leather trimmed high back seats from Newton Commercial. Another thing I didn’t like about the original seats was that although my car is a four-door, they tipped up like on the two-door, with the result that if you braked hard the passenger’s nose could get pressed hard against the windscreen”, added a very concerned Martin.
Before going on to tell us any more about any other interior upgrades, Martin explained how when he fitted the front anti- roll bar he also dumped the lever arm dampers and replaced them with a set of telescopic ones. “Despite the Minor’s torsion bar front suspension set up”, recalled Martin, “fitting the adjustable Spax dampers has made a huge improvement on how the car handles and rides. Don’t get me wrong, it will obviously never be as good as a modern car but it’s quite responsive for a classic that’s fast approaching its 50th anniversary”.
Getting back to talking about the interior, Martin explained how he fitted an after market leather rimmed steering wheel and added extra dials, including a rev counter and a clock. “I also fitted a new set of carpets and as we use the car regularly, decided to install a decent FM radio/CD player,” added Martin
before going on to tell us more about what’s been done to the Minor. “As I said before, I like to work on the car over the winter and although the bodywork was in really good condition, the same couldn’t be said about the paintwork. The Minor really needed a respray, so two years ago I stripped the car down to a rolling shell and booked it into a local body shop for the work to be done. They made a cracking job of applying the new paint, which is the same shade as listed on the car’s Heritage Certificate and I’m still delighted with the result”.
After Martin had explained all about the the Minor paint job, we thought that would be nearly the end of the story but there was more to come. “When I bought the car, the previous owner had fitted a larger carburettor to the original 1098cc engine. This proved pretty useless as a modification because he kept the standard one inch diameter exhaust system. In my view, this was a bit silly as what’s being sucked in isn’t necessarily going out efficiently”.
To solve this issue when the 1275cc engine was installed, Martin fitted a larger bore exhaust and then decided to send the cylinder head away to a company in Hampshire to have it modified to a stage-two road configuration. “I was amazed at the result, although it didn’t necessarily make the car go any faster, it just made it far smoother to drive. I think the conversion has boosted the engine from 55bhp to somewhere near 85bhp, which is quite useful.” To make the most of the extra power and the five-speed gearbox, Martin has replaced the car’s 4:1 ratio rear differential with a 3:9 and is very pleased with the result.
Other modifications under the Minor’s bonnet included fitting a thematically operated electric cooling fan and adding electronic ignition. “I’ve also fitted a larger fuel tank to increase the car’s range, which came in very handy when we toured the Ireland in the Minor just before Christmas, as we weren’t forever having to stop and fill it up. During the trip, we covered just over 1600 miles and I’m pleased to say the Minor didn’t miss a beat!”
Martin is justifiable proud of his Minor and pointed out how although the car looks standard from the outside, the wheel rims and front grille are painted black rather than the standard cream. “This makes my car a little bit different from the rest and I got the idea from seeing this combination on one of the latest MINIs, as I live very close to the factory where they’re built in Oxfordshire. I don’t expect you will have noticed, but my Minor is sitting on a set of van wheels, as these are slightly wider, about half an inch over the saloon wheels I think and this gave me the opportunity to fit a set of modern sized tubeless tyres”.
When we interviewed Martin, he’d just returned from road-
testing his Minor after fitted a set of new rear springs. “The originals had been on the car for the last ten years and going over to Ireland made me realise that the leaf springs were probably well past their best. It’s not a hard job to fit new ones and I must say it’s made a big difference to how the car rides – just wish I’d thought to do this job before we set off on our Irish jaunt, which was very enjoyable, as nearly everyone we meet over there was very keen to find out more about the car”.
When we asked Martin what he liked most about his Minor. He thought about the question for a while before saying there really wasn’t anything he didn’t like about the car. “The Minor suits me perfectly. It will cruise down the motorway at the legal limit and I still get a kick when overtaking slower traffic and imagine the driver’s reaction when a 1970 J-registered Morris whizzes past them. It’s also a very comfortable car to drive. I’ve got a BMW as our daily driver and the seats in that are no where near as nice to sit in on a long journey”.
Asked if he would ever consider selling the Minor, Martin told us he had no intention of swapping it for another classic. “The Minor suits me right down to the ground and as I said before, my last car was an E-Type and before that I’ve owned lots of nice cars, so to put it bluntly I’ve been there and done that when it comes to owning desirable classics”.
Before we packed up our camera gear to go home, Martin told us a bit of the car's very early history. “According to the Heritage Certificate, the car was built in March 1970 and then stored at the factory simply because Minors weren’t selling too well at the time. BL had stopped producing the fourdoor in September 1970 and the first of the car’s five owners registered it in Brighton in June of that year”.
While we were taking a last look around the Minor’s immaculately presented engine bay, Martin pointed out how he’s fitted and alternator and replaced the car’s single 30amp fuse with an independent fuse for all the main electrical circuits. What this enthusiastic owner has managed to achieve is to produce a classic car that looks almost original on the outside, but has been carefully and thoughtfully modified to make owning and driving a 49- year old car a very enjoyable experience.