Morris Minor Owners Club

Driving into work today was a bit dodgy! 22 miles of more or less country lanes.

I found that Gracie seemed to like 22 MPH as a good balance between going too slow and getting stuck and going too fast and sliding.

Here are a couple of quick shots of my journey. Oh and for the safety minded amongst us, I was either almost stopped or actually stopped when taking these snaps.

To go where newer models fear to tread! Love the wintery one!

Ii must take my Traveller for a thrash around the local car park tomorrow to get in some practice

very nice! We have a good old dollop of snow here too. I was hoping to get molly out and about in it (for some sideways fun!) but er... she got overtaken by events!



I saw a Capri 2.8i out and about yesterday. Now that's heroic!

keep up the good work!

Rupert

I have to admit the snow in Shropshire is about 10inches now, but still the good old faithful moggy pulls through, admittingly i do have to reverse up some areas

Just saw this sad article on a local news site:

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/ ... cy-road.do

For those of you out driving today in these conditions please be careful. I was due to be driving to Lincolnshire today but am not going to risk it.

Cam - great photos. It even looks like you have grit on the roads down there!
Day off in Geordieland - roads OK, but access to our industrial estate dodgy in a 4 x 4, so I was told to work at home (very busy as you can tell!).

I don't expect to get the car out today<br><br><br><br>

moggyadventurer wrote:I have to admit the snow in Shropshire is about 10inches now, but still the good old faithful moggy pulls through, admittingly i do have to reverse up some areas

Well... a front wheel drive car will be better in reverse but a rear wheel drive (like the Minor) will be better going forwards!

Well I drove to work ok (in my Toyota) got in my truck & drove to the outskirts of Liverpool no probs - pulled up outside the builders merchants with an snow/ice covered yard & they said no chance so I turned around & came home All our other drivers were heading South so they turned around a lot sooner so nothing delivered today. We'll see what tomorrows like.

Rog

What a waste of time- surely they would have put down some grit for their own yard?

Great pics Cam, similar journey to mine, which is Gloucester up to Malvern. I stopped on the way home last night and picked up 3 bags of coal in the boot. It did make a difference. Not too many cars on the road also, that helps. Know what you mean about the 22mph. just rolling allong with enough momentum and traction to safely make progress.

Also took my flask/shovel and snow spiders etc. was surpised at just how much snow was still on the roads despite quite a few gritters and ploughs. Maggie performed perfectly. 48 whole BHP (probably less in reality!) of tail happy fun.

Didn't take any pics though, unfortunately. may do that tomorrow, but it's forecast to be very icy.

Take care everyone.

Andrew

regaliaqueen wrote:What a waste of time- surely they would have put down some grit for their own yard?

You'd have thought so - they had enough bagged up in there - still that was my 1st drop only 1/4 mile off M62 - next was in middle of Liverpool & apparently all the roads in were frozen with buses stuck etc, then on to Wrexham & Bishops Castle so I wouldn't have got there.

Will be even more icy tomorrow so a day off.

Rog

Well, out in Gracie tonight and coming the other way down a bank was a young girl in a little yellow polo going far too fast. She lost control, spun a few times and smashed up the kerb pointing into a hedge!

If I had been about 5 seconds earlier I think she'd have hit us!

So, it just goes to show it's not just our own driving we've got to watch, it's everybody else!!

p.s. I like to keep my tank pretty full this weather to give a little bit extra weight over the back wheels.

Cam wrote:Well, out in Gracie tonight and coming the other way down a bank was a young girl in a little yellow polo going far too fast. She lost control, spun a few times and smashed up the kerb pointing into a hedge!

If I had been about 5 seconds earlier I think she'd have hit us!

So, it just goes to show it's not just our own driving we've got to watch, it's everybody else!!

p.s. I like to keep my tank pretty full this weather to give a little bit extra weight over the back wheels.

Yes, in this kind of weather you're a hostage to fortune due to the stupidity & inexperience of other road users. Earlier I stopped to allow a young bloke through a single lane even though I had priority. I could see he was barely in control and had a mobile phone to his ear.

Good grief, Chris.

Cam wrote:p.s. I like to keep my tank pretty full this weather to give a little bit extra weight over the back wheels.

I think its prudent to keep the tank full at this time of year just in case of problems anyway - if you get stuck in a jam you'd be really narked if you couldn't turn the engine on to heat the car up!

I haven't bothered to dig my way out (Got to work on the bus today - bit too bad for the bike). The cars are in the garage, which has a good foot of snow in front of it and the lane and street are similarly covered. The council don't need excuses for indolence but I have to say that the way people leave their cars about the place doesn't make road clearance at all easy . The council put down double yellow lines in the (Slopping) entrance to the street and the dagos, who were displaced, now park on the main road opposite the entrance to the street (On a curve so its really safe now ).

I started the cars up yesterday. The BGT V8 started best (Maybe as it was first the garage door had been open for less time), then the Traveller (Tried last) and the poor Midget took the most effort (You don't use choke; just pump the throttle a few times and then it usually fires when you turn the key).

We've not really had that much snow since I've owned the Traveller (2003) and I've not driven it that much in the snow. Experience with the Midget showed that a Quaife diff made the car much more useful in slippery conditions and this lesson has not been lost on the Morris. Based on my limited experience of it, the car doesn’t seem at all bad in the snow.

Best car I ever had in the snow was a Mini. Years ago, if one of the "Infamous" local mountain roads was "Closed", it could be good fun. I used to let a bit of pressure out of the tyres and provided the snow was not deep, the Mini was unstoppable. Not only did it have good traction (Even without a LSD) but also it was so light that when it slid, it didn’t slide with any momentum. Furthermore, being so small, you had more room to slide it a bit. The road in question enjoyed good visibility and I have to confess, I remember driving the Mini at 70mph on snow….I’m not sure I’d fancy that in the Traveller.

Chris Morley wrote: Yes, in this kind of weather you're a hostage to fortune due to the stupidity & inexperience of other road users. Earlier I stopped to allow a young bloke through a single lane even though I had priority. I could see he was barely in control and had a mobile phone to his ear.

Another reason for not getting the car out . Funny how irresponsibility seems to be fashionable . They reckon using a mobile phone is worse than milder cases of being "Over the limit". If so, why doesn't it carry a ban ? Or are modern cars so safe that you can't have a crash....in which case why is drink driving still illegal (So I am told, 60 years ago, a local Medical Officer of Health was regularly assisted , by two PCs, from his club to his A40 Devon, as he was rather the worse for wear)?

Blaketon wrote:They reckon using a mobile phone is worse than milder cases of being "Over the limit". If so, why doesn't it carry a ban ?

It does, doesn't it?
I've noticed that people trying to light a cigarette/pipe whilst driving are just as bad, theres no law about that.

Sidney'61 wrote: I've noticed that people trying to light a cigarette/pipe whilst driving are just as bad, theres no law about that.

Driving without due care and attention...?