A comfy night in a Moggie at minus 15 Centigrade!

[Mick_Anik]

Without keeping the engine running, or using any kind of gas or paraffin heater or the like through the night.

Simple. This borders on Zen philosophy, in that you make your food work for you before you actually eat it.

Before you go to sleep, cook up a thick broth of beans and vegetables, with the minimum of liquid. I did this on a clean-burning paraffin heater behind the driver's seat, with the back of the seat ( I installed front seats from a SAAB 900) tilted forwards, out of the way.

Then, when it's time to don the night-cap, you just turn off the heater and put the lid on the pan. This then acts as a storage heater during the night. I lined all the windows with towels, and in the morning was able to crawl out of my sleeping bag in cosy fashion.

The fully-reclined SAAB 900 seat makes a perfect bed (for me at least) on the passenger side, with about three inches 'free play' at each end of my body.

Before anyone chips in about stupidity and with safety concerns, I should say that I lived in a Morris Minor for two years .....ie I never spent a night anywhere else....north of England, London (parked outside the Houses of Parliament - try that one now!), Devon, Cornwall, France and Holland.

Happy days!

[ssnjimb]

that sounds cool

[Mick_Anik]

Nice pun?

Cool it really was. I was in two minds about posting this, as it tends to put one in the 'off one's head' category.
I used to visit folk, and they'd say they had a spare room, but nothing matched the cosiness of the Moggie!

A funny thing was....it took about ten minutes to set the bed and everything, and when I lay down to sleep I felt quite large.
When I woke up in the morning, however, it was very much like being in the womb....there I was, all curled up, with this vast expanse of vehicle all around me. Like I'd shrunk in the night.

I once parked right on the edge of a high cliff in Devon. I woke up, wound down the window and looked down.......what a view!!!!! You know you're alive!!!!!

Don't worry...I knew the cliff well - nothing 'crumbly' going on there!

Does anyone else have a tale of similarly (can't get the right word) Moggie adventures?

[rayofleamington]

Does anyone else have a tale of similarly (can't get the right word) Moggie adventures?

I tried sleeping in a pick up - being 6 foot tall doesn't help. It was like playing twister except for doing it sitting down.

The Saaab seats really can't get enough praise - I had many hours of comfy sleep in a minor with them fitted through Europe and West africa - but usually whilst someone esle was driving! Night time is much better in a tent IMHO, unless there's a clean bed indoors on offer.

[d_harris]

I've slept in the convertible (standard seats) on a couple of occaisions and it wasn't too bad at all!

[StaffsMoggie]

I have dossed down in the moggie a couple of times over the years but have yet to cook in it!

[RussLCV]

Great stuff..........................pm sent

[Mick_Anik]

Hi Russ!

Reply sent....but it wasn't registered in my 'sent' box, only in the 'outbox'.....you might find repeat sends. Or nothing. I'll check back.

[LouiseM]

A message is only shown as sent when the recipient opens it. Until then it stays in your outbox.

[RussLCV]

You can always e-mail on Russ@MinorLCVreg.co.uk

Cheers

[Mick_Anik]

Thanks, LouiseM.....quite right, as I see now.

[alainmoran]

Yep, I've slept in my 2 door quite a few times ... if you lift the back seat-swab up a bit and shove it forward until it touches the backs of the front seat, it creates a really cosy & comfy bed to curl up foetal fashion in

[Jonah681]

I used to have a van. Threw a couple of t-shirts together + mattress in the back & had a very enjoyable holiday in Bude with the girlfriend.

Very handy on camp sites - park next to someone's tent & no rent to pay as they thought the tent owner also had the van!

OK it was 30 years ago now, but I still have fond memories of the van, the holiday........and her!

[MarkyB]

There was a German chap, Max I think who was a member of our branch who had camping in his Minor (saloon) down to a fine art.
As far as I can remember he removed the passenger seat then put the back seat back into the space where it was with brackets he had fabricated.
Can't remember now if he slept with his head in the boot or under the dash but he travelled all over Europe and possibly Russia too using this arrangement.

He was a real character, long since departed unfortunately.

[Mick_Anik]

It is amazing just how much room there is in a Morris Minor - they used to advertise it as "the world's biggest small car", and they weren't lying!

[StaffsMoggie]

Very true! I once moved a single bed in a Minor saloon, matress an all!