1956 Morris Isis Traveller £12,750
It’s a proper period pantechnicon, with plenty of room for Uncle Tom Cobley and all the family, says Paul Hardiman
Like an enormous Minor Traveller, the Isis is huge even by today’s standards – it’s longer than a modern Mondeo estate – and this seven/eight-seater rarity has managed to survive complete with the original rubber finishing/rubbing strips on the rear body’s lower edges. This car has mostly been in the hands of one family and had some restoration work carried out in the late Nineties, detailed in photographs in the thick history file.
The body is in pretty good shape and it’s solid, but the sills aren’t quite the right profile, though they are firmly plug-welded on. There have also been some floor repairs, well protected with underseal. The doors fit well, and spring from their shuts when you open them thanks to fresh seals.
The paint isn’t very clever, with various cracks, chips and touch-ins but it is even – well, the same colour all over, at least – and the timber is all in good order. Bumpers have been rechromed, and the grille trim is well polished but a bit wavy. Tyres are a mix of crossplies that probably deserve museum display in their own right – old Malojas on the left and newer Avon Supervans on the right, with an even more ancient Trelleborg Safe-t-star on a slightly cauliflowered rim for the spare.
Inside, the front seat base has been redone in leather though the rest remains the original leathercloth. All is still in good order, including the door cards. When the rear seat is opened up, the spare moves from its well to make room for the occupants’ feet, and bolts up to a mount on the right – the bolt and wingnut are right at child’s head level.
The motor is a replacement, a twincarburettor unit said to be from a policespec Wolseley 110/6, therefore 2912cc and thought to have covered fewer than 40,000 miles. Coolant is slightly rusty but to a good level, the oil dark and to the full mark. A remote brake servo has been added and there’s a new master cylinder. The chassis rails within the engine bay look good.
The engine starts easily, with no untoward mechanical noises or smoke out of the back, though there’s a slight exhaust blow from the front. It needs quite a bit of choke until fully warm, but is surprisingly sprightly and the ride is very comfortable. The column gearchange is easy to find your way around (once you work out where reverse is), though first gear is noisy. The brakes pull up reasonably well and almost straight. Warm oil pressure is 48psi, the ammeter functions and coolant temperature is just on the hot side of ‘N’.
There’s little play in the steering though it does wander about a bit on those old crossplies, but radials would look wrong. Scarily, with the twin-carburettor motor it might crack a ton, but we didn’t go there.
This will be sold with 11 months’ MOT (though it’s not required), Morris Workshop Manual, and lots of spares including a gearbox, plus a roof rack to increase its capacity further. This splendid old bus is ideal for the autojumbler or perhaps a family man who wants to take the kitchen sink when camping.