Morris Minor Owners Club

i had a morris minor when i was first started driving as a lot of my mates as well

and i now drive a morris minor with only a few years to go before the retirement age

Having been in Mini clubs and comparing those with the Minor equivalent. It seems that (as a generalisation) the Mini seems to attract more younger people due to the tuning/modification heritage and there seems to be much less in the way of modified minors (as a percentage) and much less of a 'go faster' image.

If it IS down to image then we will always struggle.

Look at the film/tv angle:

Mini: Italian Job - racing coopers
VW: Herbie - cutesy race car
Minor: The Borrowers + open all hours, lovejoy

again, i've said this since being on the forum! i try my best to bring the youth around me to like teh car, unfortunately all they see is me breaking down! so doesn't help too much! hehe! no, jokes aside, i think the kids around me quite like my car, so thats at least 15 youths interested! whoo!

The club publicising last year's Lancashire branch calendar in the national press did little to attract younger owners either. It just helped to reinforce the image of the Minor as an 'old persons' car. Not the sort of media publicity that was required when you need to attract younger owners

Another club may ro may not be a good thing, bu whatever i think we need more new members(Im 14 and im restoring a minor). If we could open up the minor as an easily moddable car, this would open it up to youngsters just like it did with the citroen saxo. If we could get more modded cars on the rallys that would be great, to demonstate the car isnt or old people like it is perseeved to be.

Hate to say it, but enough youngsters kill themselves with modded Saxos as it is, encouraging them to 'hop up' Minors who's handling and stopping performance will never flatter a youngsters lack of driving skill and experience is not a sensible way to go........

alzax3 wrote:Hate to say it, but enough youngsters kill themselves with modded Saxos as it is, encouraging them to 'hop up' Minors who's handling and stopping performance will never flatter a youngsters lack of driving skill and experience is not a sensible way to go........

But at least they won't be going as fast when they crash

The modified car scene up here peaked about 3 years ago with only the diehards now left. As an example, a local car website had over 2,500 members, and is now closed. You don't see many modded cars around here due to the Police crackdown on loud exhausts, tints etc etc. They were handing out asbo's like confetti along with a bad attitude towards the youth - no wonder there is a lack of respect.
I don't know the answer to attracting the young - the MMOC certainly wasn't inclusive for me many years ago (frowned upon anything non standard), although this has improved over the years. There will always be people willing to get their hands dirty to keep a minor on the road just as there are folk willing to pay for this privilage, but for youngsters this may not be an option as they want a car on the road with a minimum of fuss, plus some street cred from their mates.
The retro car scene seems to be growing quite rapidly, with people running cars that were quite frankly rubbish when new, and whilst minors sometimes appear, they are probably not quirky enough to appeal. Likewise the hot rod crowd never really bothered too much with minors ( a few appearing of late though) prefering Ford pops and all things American.
So the Minor is probably stuck between the diehards and folk wanting an old car experience without much real thought (my family had one when I was young kind of thing).
I got in to Minors as a 15 year old when my mate had one on his farm. We then bought a split screen van to run around the farm in, so I started quite young. My first Minor for the road was in 1972 when I bought my MM series, and I have had dozens along the way - reason - all my mates had fords, and I like to be different, plus I like my minors to outperform the modern cars of the day.
Perhaps if there were readily available minors with modern levels of performance and handling available at a reasonable price, with some form of celebrity endorsement, then perhaps youngsters with disposable incomes would come on board.
Unfortunately, run of the mill second hand cars can be had very cheaply now, and with the current freefall economy folk are looking for neccessity rather than pursuing a hobby.

Pete

In the end the important thing about the club is to have the moggy running on the roads for as long as possible and to have as many survive as possible. I know for me (and I imagine many others) that it would be great to still have some of these cars on the road long after I'm gone. To that end, as has been mentioned, a very important issue is to attract younger drivers/members/enthusiasts so that the club (and more importantly the moggy) continues into the future. I think that perhaps there should be more impetus on changing the image of the minor.

Perhaps the club should push more attention on to the younger driver/owner? Although the younger driver may be a small proportion of the overall owner demographic perhaps they should receive more attention? More pictures of younger drivers on the rallies or calendars, perhaps closer attention to the younger owner in the magazine?

I have never been to a Morris Minor Rally so will not comment directly but at classic car rallies (those I have been to plenty) there are a lot of younger enthusiasts and perhaps we should be doing everything we can to recruit them for the minor? I know that for my friends, my family and I the minor is definitely perceived as an older persons car, especially those that do join me at classic car shows. Perhaps it is the duty of the younger owner/enthusiast to get out as much as possible and try to attend every car show possible.

I also think there is a real place in the future of the minor for the customised vehicle. I know that when pulling up in petrol stations or at shops that I get a lot of younger people (plenty of 'boi racers') comment on the car, usually with phrases like 'awesome car mate' or 'wicked car, what is it?' Maybe those into modding cars are not the contingent some of the purists want taking control of minors but even for those surely to have customised minors on the road is better than having no minors on the road?

I do agree with comments mentioned that seperate clubs do make us weaker. Membership money is spread over organisations that are all working for the same goals. The MMOC definitely seems to cater for more than enough tastes and a single large club is far more efficient.

Sorry about the length, just a few things I think about it. I am not quite as knowledgeable as most on here about the minor and may have the wrong end of the stick sometimes. I hope I don't get anyones hair up, I do sometimes have a tendency of playing Devil's Advocate.

I know when I attend a Classic Car rally - the MMOC Minor owners are usually either sitting in their cars in a wee line or huddled together under a tent structure drinking tea! They don't seem to even bother to go and look at other Minors - nevermind the various other cars at the show. And it's exactly that image that puts others off Minor ownership.

I know when I attend a Classic Car rally - the MMOC Minor owners are usually either sitting in their cars in a wee line or huddled together under a tent structure drinking tea!

The ones that make my eyes roll are the ones who insist on sitting at a picnic table next to their back bumper - with socialising limited to the friends who parked next to them. However that's not a fault of the MMOC - that's just people! Some people want to chat with strangers and some don't - I fall in both camps depending on what mood I'm in.

There are all types of people at an MMOC rally and I've never EVER been to one without having a few good conversations with people I've never met before.
At large rallies where people camp - there is usually a very social atmosphere. At the last national it was so social/friendly that I ended up going home about 4 hours later than I'd intended! well worth staying though

Now it's my turn to be Devil's Advocate , as I believe that both BMC and Ray have justified points. I too have seen 'cliques' of Minor Owners sitting and talking amongst themselves, and yes Ray this is not the Club's fault, it's just the people. However once again I would direct you to suggestions I have made previously.

I agree .. separate clubs is not going to be good in the long term.

I think to gain interest from younger enthusiasts, is the club has to do things young people want to be involved in.

For example, don't the VW club do a run to the sun event in the summer to Newquay every year? The bonus here is young people in the VW's are seen at a young persons kind of place in their territory. you see hundreds of beetles and VW vans plodding down the M5 inbetween the rows of caravans.

That's just one example, so maybe the MMOC should have a 0-30's commitee or something like that. So at least they can organise things that the younger generation will latch onto, gaining exposure.

Incidently my brother and I were not really VW fans, but we did go to one of these events with a mate who had one. They were very good weekends, with a good young party atmosphere.. my brother now has a beetle!

No offence intended guys, but I think you will find we are going round in circles, sorry.

Also:-

Cam wrote: Look at the film/tv angle:

Mini: Italian Job - racing coopers
VW: Herbie - cutesy race car
Minor: The Borrowers + open all hours, lovejoy

Don't forget,

Minor: The Antiques Road Show

Judge wrote: Don't forget,

Minor: The Antiques Road Show

Are you happy with that though? Only members can change that.

I'm not with you, sorry?

the MMOC should have ............. So at least they can organise things that .......

I think the people who want to do it should organise it! Get involved - that's how things get done. ;-)

Couldn't agree more Ray

Spot on Ray!