Morris Minor Owners Club

while in america i went to a car show. there was loads of diffrent sorts of cars there and plenty of vw beetles. i got talkin to one of the drivers and he didnt know what a minor was. so i walked away. got talkin to another couple and they didnt know what a minor was. i told them and showed them some pictures, they said it was a really nice car and they had never seens one before. goin to another one this weekend might try tellin more people

They don't know what their missing!!!!!!

Keep spreading the word on the other side of the pond

Tel them the Beetle's a European attempt at a British Minor - they'll not know any different

I attend about 10 car shows a year and I don't think I have ever seen a Morris Minor at a show. Most Americans these days never even heard of MGs let alone a Morris Minor. Automobile history seems to be lost on the younger generation here (for the most part) everyone is soooo busy playing video games and texting or sexting or whatever.

I was with my nephew this summer at a car show looking at a 65 Buick Riviera ( I had one wish I kept it) and he never heard of it, his father (my brother) is an avid car chap. He has all English stuff AH 3000 and several MGBs, I would have thought some of that would have rubbed off but I guess it just does not interest most people these days.

I will be taking the Minor to several shows this year to show some people what they are.

ill try spreading the word. i could not believe it myself. ill keep you updated

Sadly a lot of the younger generation in britain don't know what they are either, the occasional person asks 'is that the wooden one?' so i suppose at least some have a vague idea but my car does get very offended when people refer to it as a beetle!!

i have that problem. me bein a joiner they always say a least i can make myself some new wood for it, so i have to explain it to them

the occasional person asks 'is that the wooden one?'

I had to ring the local Police a couple of years ago to get a crime reference when my Minor was broken into and after providing the details was asked "is that the one that looks like a Tudor house?". I was glad it hadn't been stolen as they would never have found it

I went into my local Halfords store a few years ago and enquired if they had a fan belt to fit my Minor. I was asked,"Morris Minor,is that a car or what?" No,they didn't have one.

I bet they did! They just didn't know to look it up properly - under Rover - or Mini - or MG Midget!

Yes, I had a garage ask me if the 'Beetle' was mine (after they had done the tracking). I did not ever use that garage chain again.

Plus, I have had many an interesting conversation in Halfords with the 12 year old staff when I have been stuck for the odd item and in the end (like Roy says) you end up telling them to forget it and pretend you have a mini/mg/ital/marina/etc.

At a big parts store being served by a young lad = "What's a Morris?" His boss took over from him.
A very unusual thing happened just before Christmas. At a country store where they serve great coffee, a tour bus pulled in. An American started asking about the car and then surprised me by knowing about Minors, A series motors, SU carbs, generators, heater taps. That was a rare happening.

hotrodder13 wrote:while in america i went to a car show. there was loads of diffrent sorts of cars there and plenty of vw beetles. i got talkin to one of the drivers and he didnt know what a minor was. so i walked away. got talkin to another couple and they didnt know what a minor was. i told them and showed them some pictures, they said it was a really nice car and they had never seens one before. goin to another one this weekend might try tellin more people

Well, I'm not surprised! I've encountered numerous places in the US that they've never seen an old school Mini, like in the town I live in. I own a 1964 Austin Mk1 Estate (tinnie) and decided to take it to a local car show/meet and noticed that my car was the only Brit car around a sea of US hotrods and rice rockets. I walked away with a "Best of Class" import only because I owned an unusual car. The nice thing is that everyone that looked at my car got a good education! Now, if I can finish my 51 MM that would be a site to see.

I quite often get comments like "Ooh, nice Mini". I also get quite a few kids on the footpath using my car for Punch Buggy, the game where you yell "Punch Buggy" and punch the person next to you everytime you see a VW. I don't take it to heart, but my father did once stop in his Moggy to explain the difference to the mischievous tikes.

Let them play Punch the Ferret ! It ll soon stop

wasnt much luck last weekend. spoke to some more people who had never heard of one. showed them a pik and said it looked like a beetle, i give up after a while. till next time.

I was in my local Halford store last week,and I asked for a Haynes Manual for a Morris Minor,
The assistant said

"For a what"?

Makes me Mad!
Its a Damn Car accessories shop,They are supposed to know about cars!
Are they stupid or just plain Ignorant!

Probably both Mark ! Still, if they insist on employing 12 year olds unable to speak in complete sentences and annoyingly address me as "Mate", then all we can do is take our custom elsewhere
I tend to order everything via the internet, cuts out the necessity of dealing with people face to face.

I thought it was only me who hated being addressed as "Mate" when buying things, when putting people correct that i'm not there mate they seem to get very shirty and aggressive. I agree with you both, much easier to order online.

Here in America there are many more people who have never heard of Morris -- or MG -- or even know the Britain has an auto industry outside of Land Rover, than have. The upside to this is I get to explain over and over again about my Moggie.

My grandfather, a 90-year old grizzly veteran of the Second World War, Korea, and Vietnam, relates that a friend of his in the '50s owned a Minor, and they'd run around their town in it. He loved it and is proud of me for having one. Similarly, I've met others -- almost entirely men over 50 -- who have heard of Morris Minors. The fella who repaired my radiator knew some about them, but, for contrast, the other fella who painted my new wings hadn't heard of them -- but he did research and now is an avid fan! I've made a lot of fans: my high school librarian, my dad, my girlfriend.

I've never heard of an auto show over here that has Minors, but I haven't done much research. I have several pictures of Minors in an auto show at a place called Hudson -- but which Hudson is unclear.