Parked next to this lovely, but rather sad looking Minor this morning (one on the right). It was in poor nick; gouty gutters, loads of bad filler all over, rotten wings and dull, faded paint. It made me rather sad, and got me thinking.
Just how many Minors like this are scrapped every year, and how does this compare with the number each year that are put back on the road by folks like us?
Does anyone reckon that at some point numbers of serviceable Minors in regular use will decline to the point that it will not be economical to produce spares for them in volume? If so, what does that mean for people like us? Will it be too difficult or impractical to keep a Minor in regular use because of a lack of spares?
Concerning stuff for me, as I mean to use my Moggy until my driving days are over![frame][/frame]
Was it a running car (assume so as in a car park?)
Lots of cars have filler, dodgy gutters, rust all over, ripped interior. I would just be glad they are still in daily use. My everyday Minor has rust in the arches and gutters, the worst (rustiest) front bumper I have ever seen on a Minor, a buckled back wing, a rotten door and luckily no body filler whatsoever. Would I swap her for a concourse example. Nope
Its a case of horses for courses. Not every one wants to drive a mint minor as an every day car as so many other drivers dont care about their car to care about yours when opening their doors etc. Many may dream of a mint one but only be able to afford a ratty one. As long as they are on the road but not dangerous to use then more the merrier in my book.
I think its nice just to see them on the road . i cant stand cars just kept for shows concourse etc and driven the last hundred yards to a show whats the use of owning a trailer Queen
Neighbours were moaning about the state of one on the road ( well private off road estate ) It had run out of MOT( engine problem that meant I could not get it round to testing station ). They might still moan when it returns in a few weeks time , but the rusty front panel and bumper have had appearence improved with some nearly matching green cellulose applied last week. See my other comment re MOT obtaining problem.
There are always a couple of minors in assorted gardens around and near me , normally though in better condition than the one with a particular (expensive) hole on one in the familys that we are figuring out how to weld )
You've all missed the point a bit. What I was asking is if anyone knows how many rusty Minors are scrapped every year in comparison with how many are put back on the road.
Looking at the website www.howmanyleft.co.uk and doing a search on Minor 1000 shows a steady decline since records began from around 16,000 in 1995 to around 8,500 in 2010. The last few years to present though, numbers seem to have stabilised around the 8,500 which would seem to indicate that far fewer are being scrapped, certainly from ones thathave been taxed or sorned (it does not inc the moulderign heaps that haven't been on the road for decades of course), and that any declining numbers are presumably being made up from ones being brought back from the dead.
I suppose that most that are onthe current taxation scheme, either taxed or sorned are decent enough to survive and its the 'unknown many' that are being scrapped, with a few being rescued....
cheers
Iain
Fairmile Restorations.
'49 MM, '53 convertible, '55 van, and a '64 van.
Marina p.u., '56 Morris Isis Traveller, a '59 Morris JB van, a'66 J4 van, a '54 Land Rover, Land Rover 130, Renault 5, '36Railton, '35 Hudson, a Mk1 Transit and a Sherpa Camper...
A car can be restored at any time, but is only original once!
A lot of the accuracy of that site depends exactly how the car is recorded on the V5. i would guess a lot of travellers fall into the Minor 1000 catagory and it is only cars which are currently licensed in the UK so the 8,500 may be about right bearing in mind to add all the travellers and the LCVs and Morris Minors (pre 1000s).
The Renault Five that I use as a cheap winter car has only 24 of that model still on the road so it makes Minors look very plentiful in comparison.
The main point deduced from the site is that numbers have stabilised in the last three years which indicates that there's now enough Minors to go round for anyone who wants one (or enough enthusiasts for the reamining cars to put it better) and numbers being scrapped are much dwindling.
cheers
Iain
Fairmile Restorations.
'49 MM, '53 convertible, '55 van, and a '64 van.
Marina p.u., '56 Morris Isis Traveller, a '59 Morris JB van, a'66 J4 van, a '54 Land Rover, Land Rover 130, Renault 5, '36Railton, '35 Hudson, a Mk1 Transit and a Sherpa Camper...
A car can be restored at any time, but is only original once!
You have to take the numbers shown on 'howmanyleft.com' with a pinch of salt, as for some cars I know there are a hell of a lot more about than the figure it gives.
IaininTenbury wrote:Looking at the website http://www.howmanyleft.co.uk and doing a search on Minor 1000 shows a steady decline since records began from around 16,000 in 1995 to around 8,500 in 2010.
As mentioned, I'm not sure how accurate the figures on that site are. In 2010 a club member (Nigel Harrison) paid for information from the DVLA regarding the numbers of Minors which were showing on their database as either SORN'd or taxed and the figures were as follows:
27000 still on the road is a good healthy figure. I am glad to hear that.
I hope that this number really has stabilised and that the number on the road, whatever their condition, remains constant enough to ensure the continuation of the parts supply into the future.
As I said those website details are just taken from the Dvla's database (where else would they get them from?). But it very much depends on how the vehcles are recorded on the V5. I mean vans can be recorded as Morris 5cwt, Morris 6cwt, Morris 8 cwt, Morris Minor Van and then the Austin versions. Then or course the Morris 5cwt could also include the older Morris Z vans, and thats just the commercials So to get an accurate figure you have to put some time into it as Nigel Harrison did. Not having time the snippet of info I used was just the number of currently taxed 'Minor 1000s' which of course is only one section of the Morris Minors still about and didn't include sorned ones or any other sort of Morris Minor. Whilst obviously not an accurate number of total cars (which wasn't the question originally asked anyway) it does show the trend of declining numbers and gives an indication of how the overall scene is.
Incidentally a few years back onhere,there was a similar question on surviving cars and various theories put forward. I suggested a hypothesis based on 12,000 mmoc members (about right at the time) who all have at least one car. Same numebr of folk who don't wish to be inthe club. 35% of all these people will have another Minor. 10% will have three and 5% more than three, or something like that. The figure I got to was about 35,000 which wasn't too far off Nigel Harrison's later research.
cheers
Iain
Fairmile Restorations.
'49 MM, '53 convertible, '55 van, and a '64 van.
Marina p.u., '56 Morris Isis Traveller, a '59 Morris JB van, a'66 J4 van, a '54 Land Rover, Land Rover 130, Renault 5, '36Railton, '35 Hudson, a Mk1 Transit and a Sherpa Camper...
A car can be restored at any time, but is only original once!
