CCA’S MINOR MIRACLE
A 3017-mile Morris Minor is to be auctioned off for charity on 1 December – and it could be Classic Car Weekly’s ’s Car of the Year – with your help
Safe Families for Children Wales is to benefit from a no-reserve auction of a late Morris Minor. Consigned to Classic Car Auctions’ upcoming sale, the Snowberry White 1000 saloon, one of 9969 two-door saloons built in the last year of Minor production, is to go under the hammer after its previous owner donated the car at the behest of the charity.
The Minor’s story is interesting: bought by a Cardiff solicitor as an investment, it was stored with its wheels off on axle stands for 35 years after recording 3017 miles on the road. Recommissioned in September this year, the mechanical work was thorough and expensive - £2000 was spent getting the car ready for a voluntary MoT, which the car passed without any advisories. The brakes (all wheel cylinders, master cylinder, brake shoes) dynamo, regulator and fuel pump were all renewed because of their deterioration in storage; once replaced, the originals were then stored in the boot.
David Hemings, car sales manager at Charles Ware’s Morris Minor Centre, told CCW that the firm hadn’t encountered such a lowmileage Minor in a long time, if at all: ‘Back in the day, [ late company founder] Charlie [Charles Ware] would find low-mileage garaged Minors from time to time, but nothing with as few miles on it as this. They all had similar stories to this car: stored off the road, cared for, but not used. The previous owner spent their recommissioning money wisely. If the mileage is genuine as trusted and declared, it’s exceptional.’
From photos, David valued the car at between £5000 and £6000, ‘ but it would exceed market value based on the mileage accrued; it appears to be very original, which is a real selling point’, he said.
‘Other people may well bid it over £6000 because it’s been offered at no reserve for charity, that’s a very real possibility, too.’ Worthy cause auctions often see cars exceed their market value; BCA’s sale of an exRoyal Mail Minor van in 2010 saw £8000 raised for Barnado’s.
Full auction preview, page 39