Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi,
I'm advertising a 1955 Morris Minor splitscreen, but I'm not certain what its worth.

Its in good condition with no rust, new front leather seats, new carpet, good tyres and new glovebox's, 800cc engine and 30,060 miles on the clock.

The car drives very well and is garaged and covered when not in use. Any help on what its worth would be great thanks!













(more pics)

http://s350.photobucket.com/albums/q428 ... ?start=all

Thanks,
Daniel

The simple answer is "whatever someone will pay for it!!!"

Its a shame its had such a bad job of orange flashers installed (I hate the seperate light look)

If it was mine I'd pitch it around 3.5-4k and take a bit less.

I will however open the bidding at 50p and a chocolate button


Just for interest, as I am currently doing a 55 whats the chassis number?

It's lost its original number though, that'll lower the value....

It's lost its original number though, that'll lower the value....

I really doubt it.

What is it with original number plates in the UK? It seems to make a huge difference to value. Here in Australia the number plate is of very little interest - you can always special order an older number if it's not currently in use. Why is it such an issue in the UK?

Just a personal opinion but I think the number plate should indeed be of little interest. (who cares!) This car looks very nice and certainly should fetch a good price. Providing of course the underneath looks as good at the top half

Our DVLA started a scheme whereby they could make money out of selling plates which either had owners initials or could loosley spell out an owners name - Hence the attraction to "some" people.....

Hi Daniel to get the sort of money Dan has mentioned it would have to be an exceptional car and would have to have the full service history to confirm the mileage and a new MOT and would really have to be perfect including the underside and a good engine bay as unfortunately the 803cc engine is the least desirable of the engines and at the moment 2 door cars are selling easier than 4 door cars as they have easier front access.
Just one little thing why is the rear seat covered with a blanket, as it gives the impression its hiding something.
Please dont think I am being negative as I am just trying to give you a realistic opinion.

David53 wrote:What is it with original number plates in the UK? It seems to make a huge difference to value. Here in Australia the number plate is of very little interest - you can always special order an older number if it's not currently in use. Why is it such an issue in the UK?

Its because the Merc & Bmw love to have personised number plates and pay silly prices to obtain them its all down to one upmanship.

Kevin wrote:Hi Daniel to get the sort of money Dan has mentioned it would have to be an exceptional car and would have to have the full service history to confirm the mileage and a new MOT and would really have to be perfect including the underside and a good engine bay as unfortunately the 803cc engine is the least desirable of the engines and at the moment 2 door cars are selling easier than 4 door cars as they have easier front access.

If it was a 1000 I would suggest that you are right but being an earlylate SII (if that makes sense) i.e one of the first with a centre speedo. If it is in cracking original condition as the ad Says it would easily be worth 3k - hence to pitching it at xxx and selling for a bit less.

Fortunately the Aussies don't care too much about that sort of thing

If it was a 1000 I would suggest that you are right but being an earlylate SII (if that makes sense) i.e one of the first with a centre speedo. If it is in cracking original condition as the ad Says it would easily be worth 3k - hence to pitching it at xxx and selling for a bit less.

I see your point Dan but the series II cars always seem very slow to sell especially the 4 doors maybe in your area they make more money and the Ad doesn`t mention originality, underside condition or MOT, now I am not saying for one minute that its not got all of these points but I don't wish to kid the seller.

If it were mine (and assuming the underside is as good as the top appears to be in) I'd take more photos (including underside) and of back seat without the blanket and start the bidding at £950 with a reserve of say £1750. It's an attractive colour scheme and looks an ideal candidate for a first Morris owner.

To go back to the numberplate comment there is no reason why that couldn't be the original number, the replacement plates usually had the X in the middle of the three letters, ones starting (or ending) with an X were just normal issue.

The car is very pretty (In my opinion the series II 4-doors are the best looking) so if it's as good underneath it should fetch a decent price.
But why does it have a 'minor 1000' badge on the back?

Because its had a later bootlid fitted at some point in its life!!

Fair enough.

Sorry to be picky but are you sure it has the orignal 800cc engine? As it looks to me like its got a 1098 speedo.

If you seriously want to sell it, then set the price realistically for todays market. £3k+ really is fantasy unless mint in every way. I'd suggest that number has been swapped (I had one with an XUD number that was), but that shouldn't bother most folk. However, if you've already got some dosh for the number, then it's a bit greedy to ask top dollar (imo) without it's original identity.
Post up some pics of under bonnet and underside, and folk can better judge. I notice that the side trims are missing from the bonnet - or is it a commercial one?
I'd suggest asking around £1500 for it if all good.

Pete

Hey guys, thanks a bunch for all the feedback! I wasn't expecting this many replies!

I thought I would just clear a few questions up, but I can't answer with 100% certainty as the car is my bosses. He mentioned to me that he was selling the car, so I suggested advertising it on the Internet for him.

The only thing that lets the car down is the chrome, which is not shiny, I have tried polishing a few areas but they don't seem to come up, you might be able to notice if you look at the chrome bumpers closely on the pictures.

I'm sorry but I'm not sure about the number plate (but I always thought it was quite a good plate ).

I have been told by my boss that the underneath of the car is in good condition, but I am going to take more (better quality) pictures at work tomorrow, so I will have a good look underneath and ask more about it.

The "1000" badge on the back is a new badge, I'm not sure why he replaced the old one (I'll ask tomorrow), but it does say 800cc in the log book, I don't think that the boot, or any other panels have been replaced but I'll ask him.

The car will come with a full MOT. The reason the back seat is covered (I think) is just to protect the leather but I will check for damage on the seat tomorrow and take pictures.

I'll also ask about the service history and originality of the car, also about the side trims on the bonnet and the speedo.

Thanks for all the feedback and sorry about the rough answers, this is my first proper encounter with a Morris, although my farther has had plenty, I'm more of a vw man but the shape of the minor is growing on me at a fast rate!

The car is very nice but there are the small things which let the car down, like the chrome, so I think that he will be looking more towards the lower estimations rather than the higher, any more info would be brilliant.

Thanks a bunch,
Daniel

Where are you btw?

plastic_orange wrote:If you seriously want to sell it, then set the price realistically for todays market. £3k+ really is fantasy unless mint in every way. I'd suggest that number has been swapped (I had one with an XUD number that was), but that shouldn't bother most folk. However, if you've already got some dosh for the number, then it's a bit greedy to ask top dollar (imo) without it's original identity.
Post up some pics of under bonnet and underside, and folk can better judge. I notice that the side trims are missing from the bonnet - or is it a commercial one?
I'd suggest asking around £1500 for it if all good.

Pete

I'd agree, definately an age related plate (fairly recently done I think) numbers then letters is a bit of a givaway ona '55 car even if your not sure about the latest batch of letters used. Dosen't bother a lot of folk, then again some people if they're buying a historic vehicle view it as a piece of history and the original number which includes the area of first registration is part of that. Wether it affects the value much is debateable, but it would certainly put some buyers off.
Not sure about the colour too, looks more cream than Sandy Beige but that could be the photo.
I wouldn't have thought there was any diff in value between 2 and 4 doors - depends really what the buyer wants big front doors or easy access to the back seat. More often than not the condition, price and availability are much more important and the number of doors a mere incidental...
I know of a similar car '55 four door that sold last year for just under £2k with proper photgraphed body rebuild, and its original plate so assuming all is well underneath - between £1500 and £2k for this one. If the chrome is a bit tired probably towards the lower end.

regaliaqueen wrote:and assuming the underside is as good as the top appears to be in

Don't EVER make that mistake ... I did, and look what it got me (a car where the topside was fairly shabby but the underside firly sweet ... at least after the original one completely died on me, engine a few weeks after I bought it, chassis later)