Morris Minor Owners Club

I have decided that using Geraldine (1969 2 door saloon) for work every day is not a good idea, have bought a modern car which is much more suitable, but am now faced with the dilemma of what to do with my Moggy.
We don't have space for two cars, or the budget to run them! I would prefer to try and sell her now, husband (who actually paid for her) wants to lay her up in a friend's garage and keep her until the market picks up.
We paid £3000 for her in April last year which I now realise was too much, but could only realistically look at getting £1000 at the most at the moment. She is very sound underneath, runs well but has a couple of dents and scratches and quite a tatty interior. She is MOT'd until Feb 2011, and has been recently serviced.
I would much rather pass her on now to someone who would use her and complete her restoration rather than keep her in a garage unused. Just really wanted anyone's thoughts on whether the market for Minors will pick up in the next year or so - I just don't think we are ever going to get back 3/4 of our money which is what my husband would like.

I'm no expert Fozz but 3000 pounds does seem a lot for a two-door saloon that is not really,(From what I gather from your own description) in tip-top condition.All the ones I have seen at that price are really very good, both mechanically and structurally.I do hope you recover some of your investment and the experience doesn't put you off Moggies in the future ! As to whether the Moggie market will pick up in the future is a question that I suppose could be answered with yes,it will.When that will happen is anybodys guess. However perhaps the market for cars merely reflects the present economic situation in general. There doesn't seem to be too much movement on the Classic Car websites just now, some of the good cars have been there for months, on e-bay things do seem to get sold,if the bids are lower than usual I really couldn't say . Placement is the key I'd imagine, right car,right place,right price.
I'm sure you'll both come up with the solution that is best. If you have the facility to store Geraldine then may I humbly suggest you do just that and wait and see how things develop ? Who knows, maybe you'll fall in love with her again
Steve.

Yes, in hindsight we did pay over the odds, unfortunately the scratches have been inflicted by me, when we bought her the paint work was immaculate
I think we will put her in store over the winter and make a decision next year, a good compromise! As you say, after several months of driving a modern, perhaps I will get the urge to drive a classic again!!

Well done ! You know it makes sense....

Fozz wrote:Yes, in hindsight we did pay over the odds, unfortunately the scratches have been inflicted by me, when we bought her the paint work was immaculate
I think we will put her in store over the winter and make a decision next year, a good compromise! As you say, after several months of driving a modern, perhaps I will get the urge to drive a classic again!!

If the car was immaculate and rust free when you bought it then why not get a mobile smart repairer to give you a quote on fixing the dents and scratches. For a few £hundred you might be able to sell your car for close to £2k rather than sell it nearer £1k with the scratches and dents.

Try the likes of "Dent devils" and "Chips Away". They should give you a free quote and if the paint is good apart from localised damage areas then it may be worth getting the work done to realise the value in the car.

EDIT- just read your last post- good idea! keep the MINOR in storage over the winter and drive the modern.

Where did you buy the car at that inflated price ?? If it's generally in decent condition - I agree that you should keep it - PROVIDED it's in a nice dry warm garage - not a draughty wood shed where the roof may fall on it........ Fix the scratches and dents - maybe next summer you will want to use it again. You must however store it properly - or it will just fall to dust. But - the 'market' will only ever pay good money for good cars - so unless you make your's good - it's going to lose a packet.

it would cost £8 to put on ebay put a reserve on it just to see what happens

Thanks for replies, we have pretty much decided to keep her for the winter, we have a friend who has an empty garage which just needs the door mending(!) apart from that its dry and quite well insulated so she should be OK in there.
Good idea to get a quote for fixing the paintwork as the rest is very good, and may have a try on e-bay with a decent reserve,at least at the moment she still has 6 months MOT.
Would be sad to see her go but would rather she was used than kept in a garage for ages, she spent 20 years in the previous owner's uncles' garage before he rebuilt her.

Talking of Minors being garaged for ages, just spotted this article about someone who has kept his '58 convertible in his garage for 36 years because he can't bear to sell it. He also has a saloon that has been garaged for a long time. It's very easy to get attached to a Minor but it seems a bit of a shame that they haven't been used for all that time: http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Articl ... 9?UserKey=

Paintjob and MOTs are what sell cars.
Who can be bothered to lay on the ground and decide for themselves if a car really is any good?
A shiny paintjob tends to trump any concerns about why does it say Heinz 57 variates underneath.

There is something wrong with the chap from that link, cars go downhill when not used, they aren't oil paintings.