Morris 1100
A charming new project joins the George fleet
Meet ‘Rosie’ – a dinky little Morris 1100, first registered in March 1968, and therefore a very early MKII model. Rosie was owned by 1100 Club member Jane Pusey from 1991 until February of this year, when a failed MOT (due to significant amounts of rust underneath the car) resulted in their time together finally coming to an end. Still sharp of wit at 78, Jane knew that with the work required, she couldn’t justify the cost of having her local garage weld Rosie up and make her roadworthy again, so reluctantly offered the Morris for sale via the 1100 Club Classifieds. Which is where I came in.
After a couple of pleasant and engaging telephone conversations with Jane, it was decided that I would take Rosie on, having promised that the car would be repaired in order to ride again rather than being broken up for parts. I even managed to secure a fifty pound discount off of the already reasonable asking price – as well as
being a delightful old lady, Jane is also a canny negotiator! So what had I bought? Well, Jane acquired the car in 1991 from the lady who lived next door to her, the original owner, while my wife Abby is now the registered custodian – so it’s a car that’s had just the three lady owners in 51 years. With a mere 51,000 miles on the clock, Rosie had clearly been cherished and is generally in good condition, bar the aforementioned rust issues. Speaking of which, Clive Jefferson and I have worked together to make the Morris solid and safe once more. The nearside sill/floorpan edge has been replaced along the length of the car on that side, while the driver’s side heelboard needed lots of attention where it meets the floorpan, too. Of course, the remedial works turned out to be more involved than expected, while we did indeed require the full 40 hours that the garage originally estimated the repairs would take, plus plenty of new sheet steel. But I think Rosie is worth it and, perhaps most importantly, so does