Morris Minor Owners Club

My involvement with Morris Minors really goes back to 1968 when I took a job as a driver with MacFisheries Ltd, in Haywards Heath, West Sussex. They presented me with a brand new Morris (actually it was an Austin) Minor van, registered NHO 721F. They were painted a brightish blue with white wavy lines on the side; the company is long gone, but I was wondering if anyone knows of any MacFisheries vans still in existance....or better still does NHO 721F still exist somewhere?

Regards

Dave

DVLA readout

The vehicle details for NHO 721F are:

Date of Liability 01 09 1981
Date of First Registration 01 06 1968
Year of Manufacture Not Available
Cylinder Capacity (cc) 947CC
CO2 Emissions Not Available
Fuel Type Petrol
Export Marker Not Applicable
Vehicle Status Unlicensed
Vehicle Colour WHITE
Vehicle Type Approval null

Maybe still stored somewhere but as not taxed since 1981 more likely been scrapped and DVLA not told.

Hi Dave its probably best to contact Russ on the LCV register
http://www.minorlcvreg.tk/
He will probably know if any are still on the road.

though I don't remember any new vans on the road I've seen 2 brand new series 2 vans for macfisheries on Russ's book they seem to have been pretty nice it also mentions they were pretty prone to rust due to the fish business

it also mentions they were pretty prone to rust due to the fish business

Oh well thats another theory blown out I always though fish oil was a preservative

True, but the salt water isn't - that's why fish rust

that's why fish rust

Yup, in Russ' book, page 7 top right, 2 Austin vans with cheesegrater grills and apparently over 500 were purchased

quick bit of digging.....

models are avaliable somewhere....

The reason they rotted guys was that each day they were hosed down in the backs

Sadly I have no recorded listing for NHO 721F

Also note the web address for the register is

www.MinorLCVreg.co.uk

The model of the MacFisheries van shown was different to mine in that the colour was a much brighter blue, and the white wavy lines ran all along the sides from the back door to the driver's door.There was a Royal "By Appointment" logo on both doors.

Yes, it's true we were told to hose the van out every evening to get rid of the fishy smell, and we gave no thought to the potential for rust to take told. If you didn't hose them out the smell of rotten fish in the summertime was simply awful, especially if the van had been left in the sun all weekend with the windows closed ! One time I remember an awful smell in the van and on thorough investigation found a box of Birds Eye frozen rissoles under the front seat ! Trouble was they had been there for weeks and resembled a furry little animal!

At the time the fish shop had the only ice machine in town, and I used to deliver ice cubes to a large local hotel patronised by the wealthy toffs in the town. Being a bit of a long-haired radical in those days I used to deliver the ice in a fish container, and thought it amusing NOT to wash out the container first but leave all the fish scales in there! The ice cubes were a distinctive hour-glass shape, and they often spilled into the back of the van after a bit of fast cornering!

Some time later I was in the bar of this hotel having a drink with a friend and I warned him not to have ice in his scotch, but he did and found fish scales on the cubes! A complaint to the management resulted in free drinks for the evening; and for some reason we didn't deliver ice there anymore!

There's an older Corgi model of a Macfisheries van, which is the lighter blue and has the stripes running full length. Presumably this model is of an older livery.

My J type is ex Macfisheries, and had the load floor lined with aluminium sheet. Also the bottom 12" of the body had pretty much dissolved and was made out of bits of tin pop rivetted together - a legacy of the diligent hosing out I presume!

The two attached pics show remains of the original blue with the white stripes.
Dont know if any Macfish Minors are still around, but theres another J as well as mine.


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