Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi,
Having been reading through the topics the last few months (tyres, electric ignition, adventures), i have noticed that most messageboard followers seem to do reasonable mileage in their mogs. However, at moggy rallies it seems the average is about 3000miles per annum and 6000 is deemed high, with many only covering 1500miles a year if lucky (info from the window display cards). I have always thought of moggies being a good a-b car or runaround (1500miles seems quite low considering what moggies where all about when in production). I remember a guy who covered 300k in ten years in the early eighties! (devon press) Whilst not being able to achieve such mileage, over the last ten years I have averaged 15k per annum, what mileage does everyone else cover?

In late 2008 I wrote in the Minor Matters letters page :

"Stuck in a traffic jam recently on the Bordeaux ring road my Minor speedo chugged and clicked itself 'around the clock' for a second time. Lots of Minors have done that, but with nothing better to do in the static traffic I worked out that the car has averaged 10,000 miles per year in the 14 years that I have owned the car.

This high mileage has been achieved despite the fact that the car has been off the road for the usual odd repairs, an engine replacement and TWO gearbox transplants, not to mention 3 months whilst my husband bravely changed the woodwork. It rarely turned a wheel for 6 months 2005 after I broke my left arm, and had another long rest last year after I damaged knee ligaments. "

The car has done a bit less since then, as I have tended to used the inherited 'modern' Nissan (now 11 years old so no spring chicken) for longer trips especially in the winter.

OH uses a moggie van every day for business so probably does 6-7000 miles pa in that too

We don't drive much more than 3000 a year, mainly because we are in Germany for 3 weeks a month on average. It's not because we are "fair weather only" Morris owners ,we drive in all weathers, the opportunities to take him out just don't arise too often. Mind you in the short time we are in the UK the moggie is used daily on both short and long trips.Thought about keeping the car in Germany but decided not to.

I do next to nothing in mine at the moment - just to the pub and back! Mainly because I have just got a new job commuting 100 miles a day

I have had Betsy Blue since late May, but apart from the initial run - from Uttoxeter to Pembrokeshire, via Dolgellau - she has only been out to get her tyres changed and for a brief run round the village.

That's because after the incident with the brakes in Aberystwyth on the way home, and the fuel pump cutting out in Haverfordwest an hour or so later, I decided she wasn't going anywhere until her brakes were exchanged for 9" brakes from a Wolseley or Riley 1.5 - or disc brakes if I could raise the akkers - and I had also changed the seat belts.

I also needed to sort out the window winders, replacing all that mechanism, and re-line the doors with those rubber/cloth strips (most of my problems with talking about car maintenance is not knowing what stuff is actually called!). It also occurred to me that the engine could probably do with a tune-up...

... so she hasn't been anywhere!

Anyway, I have now managed (thanks to some people on this board, in part) to get hold of a complete set of 9" brakes, front and rear, the door liners (?), and the window winders.

I've also found a mechanic locally who is itching to get his hands on the car, because we've talked about it and he wants to get it up to scratch for me - says he loves doing classic cars, it makes him feel like a proper mechanic again! He rents space in a body shop, whose owner has done stuff for me before on other cars, and the owner of that is going to look at bringing Betsy's paintwork up to standard. It's not bad for a handpainting, but it is a bit dull in places, and there is paint where there shouldn't be (door handles, for example) and bits which are the wrong colour (the grille should be Snowberry White and the wheels should be dark silver. At the moment, the grille is Traf Blue and the wheels are Old English White).

There's also an Automotive electrical factor nearby, who specialises in classics, and he is going to renew all the wiring for me, including the speedo, which is playing up, negearth it and fit the wiring for a discreet radio for me, and fit an alternator rather than the dynamo.

After that, Betsy becomes my daily (local) drive, and we use my wife's modern car if we want to go abroad (from here, that means England!). In the long term, I'm hoping to fit a 1275 engine, which I'm looking out for. There's a bloke near me who reckons he has got a container with loads of suitable engines in it, but he hasn't come up trumps yet!

Once the experts have done their job, I hope to do all the maintenance myself. I'd like do the other stuff, but I don't have the expertise in the first place, and in the second place I'm not sure my arthritic hands can cope that well with anything too heavy or strenuous. They're not bad at the moment, but I'm not in a manual occupation nor do I have manual pastimes except for calligraphy, so I'm not sure how well they would stand up to the kind of stuff you lot do!!

Still, I'll do my best, once my professionals have given me a kick start!

I've owned my current car since October and have done just short of 1000 miles to date. Thats more than I done in a year in my previous car

i drive to my girlfriends place in Aldershot(140 miles each way) every week or 2 weeks,as well as general running around,so i will probably average 10-12000 miles a year in the Mog,i dont see the problem,if something breaks i fix it and carry on!

DanRodd wrote:i drive to my girlfriends place in Aldershot(140 miles each way)

Dan next time you are up this way feel free to drop in for a coffee

Well she actually lives in Ash,but thats very nearby,would be nice to meet another Mog owner,ill take you up on that

my highest mileage was well over 20,000 in a year - in a Minor that broke down every week.

In the last year I've done a shamefull 250 miles in the 71 pickup and that includes the National rally (shortly before the MOT ran out... which is connected to the low mileage).
My van has done 0.5 of a mile (around a carpark)
My saloon only has 2 wheels and hasn't moved in a year
My Trabi has also not moved in a year, as I've not finished the steering column repair, and the brake flexi's need changing.
However I did have a heavy year at work, moved house and got married.

This year will see that all car-dormancy change! (he procrastinates)
I'll be doing the 5 Capitals with my family on board so I will HAVE to finish one of them!

average 10000 a year

1 - 2000 these days; the most was about 4000. I do that on a bicycle each year!!

12000 - 15000, mainly a 50 mile a day commute, A and B-Roads, usually a 200 mile motorway to Yeovil once or twice a month, sometimes more, once a week isn't uncommon. It misses a few days if I take the modern for a change or because I want to get home quickly on the MWay. Newcastle and back a couple of months ago (averaged 60 mph )

I use it as a daily driver. It's our only car at the moment, until a "new" modern comes on Saturday.

It needs an engine refresh, as the current 1098 has about 70 - 80K on it. Getting a bit long in the tooth. I may sort a 1275 I've got in the garage and drop that in.

It's pretty standard, even seats are original. Alternator and a radio, halogen headlights are the only mods, oh and rear seatbelts.

Andrew

I covered 8,000 miles last year. "Bluebell" is my only mode of transport and is used all year round for shopping, occasional commuting into West London, and driving all over Surrey and London to visit friends & family. I also take her out for country drives a lot during the summer months as a chance to drive with the hood down. She's regularly serviced and usually gets me from A to B without a hitch! She has no modifications at all, and has 75,000 genuine miles on her original 948cc engine.

Until the last year I was doing about 5-600 miles a week, 1 week off a year. The few problems that I had could be fixed after limping home from work or occured during the weekend (half shaft, gearbox and engine). In the 14 years (out of the last 16) that I relied on my van for work I can honestly say I didn't miss a days work. I guess I've been very lucky, that and only getting paid if I turned up.
In the last year, doing much lower mileage, lot's has gone wrong. Mainly due to me having the time to fiddle about trying to make the van more reliable....