In my case, a letter (Email) of mine appeared in viewpoint (Page 16) but I feel the item has been (Perhaps understandably) edited to a point where it doesn't made sense to me. If anyone else feels this way, the full text appears below. The point is really how it's funny the way things work out and how I came, eventually, to own a Minor and the missed opportunities along the way.
What a pleasant surprise to receive this with Minors Matter this month (I've not finished it yet). I like the format of the Minor through the decades, rather than the usual 1940s - 1971/2 story and it has raised a number of things in my mind, plus reminded me of others.
Firstly, do any narrow prototype Minors still exist? I know that Lord Nuffield said the car looked like a poached egg (I don't know where he got his glasses from) and was narrow gutted. I wonder was some of this down to a dislike of Issigonis (Which I understand he got over in time). Looking at the photos, of the prototypes, I can't say they look obviously narrow, so I have doctored an insurance photo of my car, to show it with and without the four inches (Whilst I put the rear door frame and rear view mirror where they should be, I didn't alter the bumper or number plate). Perhaps, when viewed side by side, the narrow version shows up more but I can't honestly say it's a big deal aesthetically (Especially by itself). I tend to put function before form and so accept that the extra for inches (Which I'd say looks more noticeable above the window line, so inside the car) gives more room inside and makes for a more stable car (It was said that in the days of broad gauge railways, when a 7 foot train derailed, it was less likely to tip on to it's side).
I am reminded of missed opportunities over the years. The picture of the Sprite caravan reminded me of this, as my late father had one but pulled first by a Ford Escort 1300 estate and then a VW Type 3 Variant ("Variant" denoting estate). The Ford was the first missed opportunity. Aside from a Frazer Nash and a Lotus 7 (But with BMC running gear), all my father's cars, before the Escort, had been BMC (MGA and a series of Minis), whilst my grandfather (Aside from a Sunbeam-Talbot 90, a couple of Jaguars and a Ford Zodiac, that he kept for three months) was also a BMC man. Whilst the cars weren't perfect (And my father said that Nuffield cars were better made than those of BMC, which were better than those of BL), they clearly kept coming back. Had the Minor been given the 1275 engine, I am sure my father would have bought a new Minor Traveller (He wanted something a bit bigger than the Mini estate, though later found that the Mini's boot space was more usable than that of the Escort), rather than the Escort, which seemed to break down at the mere forecast of rain (My father fitted better quality HT leads) and rust whilst you waited (A regularly garaged and cleaned car had holes in the wings in two years). The result was the Variant in 1971. Even as a youngish child, I could tell this was a different beast, especially when pulling the caravan. I didn't know about the iffy road holding or instability in wind, though I can appreciate that engine access was poor and I know that when my father worked for AFN (Who had built Frazer Nash cars but were then the importers of the VW inspired Porsche 356) engines were dropped out underneath, as it was only held in by bolts to the bell housing. I am sure that a 1275 Minor Traveller might have prevented or at least delayed the change to VW during the 1970s (With one MG, one Volvo, a Lotus Elan and one Renault in late 1979); even here, their early water cooled cars were not so beautifully finished as the air cooled cars.
By the early 1980s, cars had changed and my father, who had always had some interest in older cars (He had wanted an HRG/MG T Type or similar and it was his parents who helped him to get the MGA and part of the deal led to the Zodiac but that's another story), had become a convert to classic cars. If he had bought a Traveller, rather than the Escort, it would have lasted long enough to see him into the Minor preservation period and who knows, maybe I would now be looking after a Traveller I had known for over fifty years, rather than just over twenty.
I was well aware of the trouble BL had during the 1970s but I now know some factories were worse than others (So I gather Speke was one of the worst; Abingdon one of the best). I think the problems may have been over stated or at least those of Speke drew most attention. Certainly the MG, that my father had during the 1970s, suffered more niggley warranty issues than the others combined. This tended to colour my judgement, though my first car was an oldish Mini and that proved very reliable. The closure of MG and the demise of the sports car, as I knew it, determined me to get an MG and keep it. Later, to save that from regular use, I got a second car. Here we come to missed opportunity two. I wanted a Mini Clubman estate but at time time, the only one I was offered had too many miles on it (I didn't want a project), so I ended up with another Mini 1000 saloon, with just 25000 miles (One of the best buys I ever had, even if is was slime green, aka "Applejack"). I never gave a Minor (Or Reliant Kitten estate) a thought and was unaware of the Minor scene. Indeed, I am ashamed to say, that when I did my first classic car event, I was staggered by all the Minors there and wondered why they appeared so popular (But aside from the Mini Cooper, I wasn't that interested in saloons then).
My father (Who by now had another MGB GT V8, that I now have) toyed with the idea of a Minor, in the early 1990s. With images of BL still quite fresh in my mind (And a new Mini, which had dreadful paintwork and which, had I not Waxoyed it from new, would have rusted in no time), I suggested a VW Beetle would be better. In the end, he got a car he had fancied in the 1970s, a Scirocco Storm; lovely car in some ways but too rare for good spares back up (I ended up with one too) and they were sold (The one my father had and restored is still shown as taxed) in the early 2000s.
When my father first toyed with the idea of a Minor, he joined MMOC and whilst I wasn't interested, I recall that the enthusiasm, that leaped from the pages of Minor Matters, was infectious (It still is). When the Sciroccos were sold, my parents got a low mileage MGB GT (My mother still has it) and some time later, I considered a Minor van. In the end, I got a Traveller (Sept 2003) and I am now the car's longest owner. Perhaps, if I hadn't owned the other cars, maybe I'd not fully appreciate the Traveller (I still think my best "All round car" was a MK2 VW Golf GTI 8V but nowadays I'd rather own the Morris). I know that any old car is usually only as good as the last restoration but I can see that the Minor is a more sturdy car than my Minis were. In some ways, it is more like the VW Beetle that my mother had in the 1970s; perhaps it is still more of a Nuffield car, despite having been sold by BL.
To the future, I have four cars in my name and am also looking after my mother's BGT. The Morris is having some work done to it, that I have had to shelve, for various reasons (Finishing my father's last project, luckily before he died, was one) and I hope, at last, all will be as I want it (At the moment I am modifying some spare front seats, including a folding passenger seat, to take MGB/Midget head restraints and am making a version of the anti tip devices I recall from by 1980s Minis). When I took on finishing my father's last car, I didn't know time was running short or that it would lead me to having another car (He had said he was going to sell the car, though I didn't allow this to let me cut corners but he changed his mind when it was finished). I hope I can hang on to them all, though my mother (Now 86) says she will sell her car when the Morris is finished (Whilst the BGT is the perhaps better all round car, with a fair degree of very easy performance and a reasonable boot, the Morris is the better runabout/shopping/builders merchant type of car). If I ever had to sell the Morris, it would be with bitter regret (After nearly forty years, I couldn't part with the black Midget, I promised my father I'd look after his cars and would do the same for my mother, if asked to do so) but I am lucky that my garage was built with room to spare (I also have a four poster, if push comes to shove)!!
My mother's aunt Mabel was not a car person but she had a new Minor 1000 in the 1950s. When she was not far off ninety, she and uncle John called to see my parents and my Traveller was on my parents' drive. Auntie Mabel asked to sit in it and was immediately at home. She said "I could still drive this", she mentioned not being able to see over the bonnet of their Honda Civic, "I wish I'd never sold mine". I wish I'd offered to let her try it but I was a bit taken aback, as she'd never before shown an interest in any of my other cars. My mother always reminds me of that and I note too the case of Eric Seber, in the current Minor Matters letters page. I keep saying that I want to drive my Morris when it is one hundred years old and I am older than it. It's a long shot (But not as long as for the other cars, which are all newer than the Morris) but Mr Seber gives me hope and a mobility scooter won't fit in an MGB or Midget!!! My folding passenger seat dates from 1958, so that bit of the car will be one hundred years old when I am ninety three (And I know the 1275 engine is a year or two older than the car)!!! Whether I make or don't, I'd prefer to be taken to my own funeral in the Morris. The folding passenger seat should make this easier but I am sure it will prove to be of use before then!!!
Not long before he died, my father asked me what was my favourite car, of the ones we then had (His all time favourite was the BGT V8). I didn't know. In 2022, I drove the Morris for the first time in a long time (Save for just moving it around in the garage) and it suddenly dawned on me that the answer is whichever one I am driving when you ask me.