Morris Minor Owners Club

markc wrote:Its a close run thing,between my 1990 fiesta pop +,1990 ford orion and my current puma...too close to call!

My all time favourite would have to be my 1967 mini van which i had when i was 18,but i may have my rose tinted specs on?

I had a Puma a few years ago (amazingly fogotten about it until you mentioned it ) a 1.7 - excellent handling and loved to rev. Enjoyed it when I had it.

Well - I don't know about 'best' (often due to necessity) and more to test my memory than expecting anyone to be interested - in order since '82:
Nova kit car
Triumph Toledo
Lancia HPE
Humber Hawk
Mini 998
Lada Niva 4x4
Ford Escort diesel Van
Vauxhall Astra diesel Van
Ford Fiesta
Fiat Tipo diesel
Vauxhall Corsa diesel
Citroen AX diesel
Nova Kit Car
Ford Fiesta Courier diesel
Vauxhall Corsa diesel
Moggy LCV
Moggy Traveller

I guess the Lancia HPE was the most fun (but also the most terminally rusty) - the Corsas have been the most reliable and every-day-use cars, The Astra was the most unreliable, the Mini was the cheapest (£75 with MOT and Tax but with no top engine stay bar) the Lada was the most expensive to run, in fuel and parts and the LCV has had the most thorough restoration. The traveller is a work-in-progress. I must be a glutton for punishment with the Nova kit cars, but I guess I have the bug for them!

alzax3 wrote:Well
I guess the Lancia HPE was the most fun (but also the most terminally rusty)

My V reg HPE was a fun car but as you say rust was unstopable. They had only just stopped production when I bought mine yet Lancia couldn't provide any repair panels. After a lot of searching I managed to source sills, doors (very expensive !), wings, bonnet and tailgate. All brand new and genuine items yet were already covered in surface rust despite being stored at the back of various main dealer parts departments.

Remember the oil level gauge - never seen one on another car. You pressed a large button like a washer pump and for a few seconds the sump level was displayed on a dash gauge. I think it worked by the button sucking oil and depending on the level the force needed equaled the display reading.

Paul Humphries

Jaguar XJ40 - wood n'leather gentleman's club, fast, nothing like as unreliable as people would have you believe (had it for 10 years, only a couple of faults)

Jaguar XK8 - current. Fabulous bit of kit.

Peugeot 505 GTi - well equipped, fast and really good handling.

Pug 205 GTi 1.9 - quick, good handling, no rust, no faults, just cheap and flimsy inside

Rover 827 Sterling - maybe a surprising includion, but had it for a short time as a company car, was really luxurious, fast, quiet, very well equipped etc.

Pontiac TrasAm 400 (6.6 litre V8) - loved ot for the sound it made. Nothing else, just the sound. Mmmmmmm!

Cavalier MkII from new - nothing special, but bullet-proof and fast for what it was, no problems whatsoever. I now have a similar MkIII. this era of Vauxhall was very good, they went backwards after this.....

Those are the ones that stick in my memory as "good" - well, they were good to me....

Hello all,

I can't list my ten best, but the ones I enjoyed most were,
1965 Aston Martin DB5,
1955 A.C. Aceca,
1962 Jaguar Mk 2 3.8 (which I still have but needs lots of work)
Several Triumph 2000/2,5 saloons\estate.
My current driver a Triumph Mk1 saloon with a mildly modified 2.5 P.I. engine.

Alec

ooh alec. that list is so on my wavelength.

I so want to do a big triumph estate with a bmw six pot in one day. And as for the mk2 jag, I have been looking for a cheap one that isn't too bad for a while, to turn into a track day car.

1. 1981 Fiesta 1.1L - 11 years old
2. 1986 Escort XR3i - 8 years old
3. 1985 Mini City E - 10 years old
4. 1979 Mini 1000 - 17 years old
5. 1979 MG Midget 1500 - 19 years old
6. 1989 Rover 216S - 10 years old
7. 1969 Morris Minor 4 door Saloon - 32 years old
8. 1997 Rover 400 Estate - 6 years old
9. 1963 Morris Minor 2 door Saloon - 42 years old

Not owned 10 roadworthy everyday cars yet. Driven LOADS of cars though, most of which were WAY beyond my means. It helped having a rich boss who was a car nut. Driven all sorts from Audi RS4, M3, M5, Evo 5 & 6, Impreza WRC, WRX, Lotus Esprit, 911 Turbo, etc, etc.

renult 5 gt turbo very fast wheelspin in 3rd gear

saab 900 turbo fast

mini 1000 great fun

moggie fantastic fun

saab 900 xs current everyday car
peaugeot 106 xs fast

oeaugeot 306 ok

vw caddy pick up did what it said on the tin good heater

rover 200 1.4 great engine crap build quality crap heater

austin allegro 1.3 i hated it .it broke down nearly every day the engine was rebuilt.as was the gearbox in the end the diff went.i put a mini 1000 one in it went like stink afterwoods.120 i had out of it it would eat xr3s for breakfast.it was hillarious..the gearbox whine was something to behold.i thrashed it everywere,and it would not break the rebuilt engine .

Hello Scf,

there doesn't seem to be such a thing as a cheap MK2. Relatively the 2.4 is the cheapest but wouldn't make a very exciting track car unless a disproportionate amount of money was spent on the engine.

Alec

Alec I am thinking: stripped out, lowered, wires, cage, buckets, harneses, door roundels, noisy, 4.2 and 5 speed, dark green. Big, Bad, and noisy! I think I can build it for £5k to £6K including the car to a good standard.

I just have to do it, I have been wanting that car for so long.

It took me 2 years from thinking of the supercharged moggy to getting it done.

[quote="markc"rose tinted specs. How true.
Didn't realise how many I've owned, 19 or 21 if you count the Lambretta LI 150 & Honda C70.
Started with a Morris Series Z van, I've had 2 mini vans, a rare mini pick up & a clubman estate. Some of my favourites were the Morris Oxford Sers 6, an Austin 3 litre auto & an Austin 1800 landcrab. Also 2 Minor vans, a saloon & traveller.
I'm torn on current favourite, I love my Minor van for showing off but to go for a drive out, it has to be the 04 Corsa easytronic, good looking, comfortable, with just 3 cylinders, so economic yet happily cruises at 80 mph & a joy in traffic jam conditions.

Hello Scf,

OK, if you have the capabilities to do all the work yourself. One thing, I wouldn't consider wire wheels, steel or alloys are stronger if you are going to do a lot of thrashing?

Alec

Hello
Last year, the director BMW who presented Mini Clubman to the press and his customers, required my traveller for a retrospective.Do you know what he gave me in exchange ?
BMW Z4 M , 321 cv!!!!
Ouah!!! Mess up
Hey Guys, good deal no?
yes a week afterwards, I took again the keys of Minor but it was fabulous.<br><br>

so the best I owned ( a week) is<br><br>

thats a very pretty car

Pretty but not a 'Z3' Dale.

was he comparing the new clubman to the traveller?

Hope you don't mind if I play. A little change of pace from over the pond.
Since I live in California, 600 miles trips (as well as traffic jams) are fairly regular.

Best (most reliable) car I ever owned:
1995 Infiniti (Nissan) J30. Sold it with 100K miles and never had been in for anything but regular services.
Runner up: 1986 Porsche 944. Some mechanical problems once and awhile, but original clutch last for 140K miles! Better handling than a 911.
Favorite car:
1969 Ford Mustang. fastback. 351 Cleveland motor. Some breakdowns. but what a car.
Enjoyed:
'68 Triumph GT6, but pot metal gearbox was ill-suited to the 6 cylinder motor. Went through syncros like no one's business. Spotty electrical was fun. Liked my '64 Spitfire, too. Never did get the oil light to go out.
Austin America- fun, but fluid suspension had collapsed on one side.
'65 Karmann Ghia- drove it without a starter motor for 6 months. I could push-start it in 10 feet.
'66 Mercedes 230S (the one with the fins) Beirut taxicab. Overbuilt and solid. Mercedes doesn't make them like they used to.
'63 and '67 (current Renault Caravelle). Laugh if you want but beautiful Italian design and very reliable motor and gearbox.
2006 Mini - the new one. Wife's car. They really built this right. Even could drive it 700 miles to Arizona (8 hour trip) and butt not too worse for wear.
2003 Audi A4T Quattro. Current daily driver. Whatever problems Audi had in the past, they fixed by this year and model. 60K and still only regular services.
Of course, the new love of my life, '61 Morris pickup. One of the most solid little trucks I've ever encountered. Love the rattles. Perfect size.

Had many more cars and memories, but these stand out.

only had a few cars four to be exact.
No 1 Ford Sierra which I brought off of a friend so that I could get in and drive with out worrying about the paint work, used to have great fun when the starter motor would not work and after tweeking all the wires under the bonnet and having to resort to large type spanner to encourage it to work, she would start, thank you to all the men who did stop and start to walk over to assist the girlie with the bonnet up but as I told one kind man that If the spanner had not worked then I would have asked for help.
N0 2 Lomax kit car which looked like a 1930's Morgan with three wheels GREAT FUN!!!!!!! still miss her she was based on a Citreon 2CV
No 3 Rover Mini sadly had to let her go as she needed too much work done and I had no where to store her and needed a car for work, she was great fun.
No 4 the replacement for the Mini? Yep a Minor....she is my only means of transport and apart from occasionaly bitting the hand that is mending her ( or dropping her bonnet on unsuspecting husbands who look into her internals and push the bonnet support the wrong way .....) she behaves herself like the old lady she is.

my best cars are mk1 spitefire ,mk4 zehpry, moggy pick, moggy car, and my all time 2 wheels My Lambretta LI125