Morris Minor Owners Club

Hello everyone .Looking for any advice ,Opinions or help on a car advertised on Ebay ,if i have the link right its http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1967-MORRIS-M ... 670wt_1061
If I've done the link wrong its the Westminster Blue Traveller from Torquay at £4995 ,it would be a 400 mile around trip to view it so any comments would be greatly appreciated ,the only other info i have gained that's not on the write-up is that the previous owner was a AA man and spared no expense with it and the wood is near perfect
My First car way back in 1974 was a 64 Traveller which is a long time ago now and i have an inkling to get one as a runaround everyday car ,95% of my journeys are to Tesco and back plus the odd longer journey and will be used by myself and wife plus 4 dogs (hence the Traveller idea ) .I'm fairly happy doing repairs and servicing myself so the fact its 40 years old doesnt worry me .
Any thought on the car advertised would be greatly appreciated

PM sent

Hello LTD,

personally I wouldn't buy it without either seeing it or having a person who knows Minors to look at it for you. The best part of £5,000 is a lot to chance I feel.

Alec

Ditto - but of course it also depends on how big the dogs are!

As has been said have it checked over by someone who knows what they are looking for, try contacting one of the branchs near to where the car is i'm sure someone will have a look for you. covering petrol cost doing it that way is cheaper than wasting 5k

Hi and thanks for the responses ,I agree with all you have said ,my main problems to get my head around is 1, the cars so far away its hard to judge and get a feel for the car without seeing it,not that i'd buy without seeing it first but if it was there in front of me looking lovely and saying ,"go on buy me" i more than likely would if i thought it was a good one . 2 The wife thinks i'm mad.3 We have a perfectly good everyday car ,would it be a mistake to change. 4 The wife definitely thinks i'm mad .
I've already got a classic car in the garage for sunny weekends so this car would be our main car and i wonder if i'm looking through rose tinted specticals and forgetting the practicality of the idea
One of the plus points is that the deal would be a straight swop for my car (very tempting) so nice and easy ,we also have three cocker spaniels and have just added a standard poodle to the household so the boot space would be a great help .
More thinking needed i suppose

Timber frame car is not ideal as 'everyday' car - there will be howls of derision from folks on here, but the fact is the timber will need constant maintenance if it gets wet all the time. It looks a nice enough car - no underbonnet shot for some reason - it's up to you if you think it's worth all that money........

I agree with bmc. The ash frame is a lovely piece of work but it does need regular care. I know plenty of people do use Travellers as everyday runners but a van or saloon is a much more durable vehicle in my opinion. Do you have a garage? Outdoor living does Travellers no favours.

Plus, its very expensive!

Well -I was gently hinting at the expensiveness.....

I was being polite! Its way overpriced!

Think what else you could get for that sort of money.

Evening ... Yes it would be garaged,i live in south west wales so it does rain an awful lot , I work from home so it would only be out when i go shopping etc and then the odd longer trip so no work and back daily trips ,I enjoy the preventative and tinkering aspect of older cars so that doesn't bother me and am much happier in the garage on an evening than stuck indoors in front of TV. I worry about the practicality and reliability I suppose the most.
It would share the garage with a 79 Corvette and it might sound odd but it would be nice to drop out of the "must have " rat race of modern cars altogether and get back 100% to cars that you enjoy to drive and own ,or maybe i'm setting myself up for a disappointment

Sorry I forgot to ask,you say its overprices ,as you can guess i don't know what you have to pay for a reasonably good one of these as they seem to go from £10000 to £15000 ,I'd be interested to hear opinions on what you have to pay to get a good car thats not show quality but certainly all sorted and and rust free.
Be honest ,i don't mind ,tell me i'm an idiot if you like (the wife does often enough)
Paul

I assume you mean 1000 to 1500 pounds. Minors are not worth 10000.

Personally speaking I think it's a bit over-priced given that there are rust bubbles on the doors. I dare to suggest that a properly restored car would not be showing signs of rust in the doors five years after it was restored and having covered a low mileage.....mine isn't!! I'd want a rust free example for that money.
I agree with the previous comments that Minors are not worth £10k+but there are Minor specialists who do regularly advertise cars for such prices and must be selling them to someone to do so in the first place!
My advice....keep looking, I suspect a better one will come along!

There are good travellers out there but in my experience they rarely come up for sale on the open market, it took me 12 months to find mine and I looked at a lot of overpriced miss- described cars. I lost count of the number of people who quoted Charles Ware prices to justify their asking price for a car that needed mega money spending on it. Ask for pictures of the engine bay and underside, you will be amazed how much travelling they will save you and how many owners will have excuses as to why they can’t provide them or try to convince you that you don’t need them and will not be disappointed when you see the car or just ignore your request. The car you are looking at has no engine bay picture which in my experience speaks volumes. Good luck finding a car be patient and take somebody with you when you look because you will miss something if you are on your own.

Well! The best advice really is leave this car. If there is rust then it is overpriced! I paid £4,500 early this year for a car that was advertised at £5,250, there is no rust and it had not seen a drop of rain for 11 years! That is certainly the secret with Travellers. Just completed 1,600 miles trouble free motoring this year and yes it has certainly been rained on since I bought it, but it is kept in a garage and will stay there for most of the winter. I wouldn't dream of using a Traveller for a daily driver, a saloon yes, my son uses his daily.
Traveller prices are very variable, but you will have to pay around £5,000 for a good one IMHO!
Regards ..... Peter

bmcecosse wrote:Timber frame car is not ideal as 'everyday' car - there will be howls of derision from folks on here........

HOWL!!!!
However, I wouldn't pay that money for a traveller that you want to use every day, it will be heartbreaking to see it deteriorate. You can pick up a perfectly useable example for much less, and still have everyone looking and pointing/ smiling as you go past! Only something like a Lambo would get similar notice. I understand entirely your thoughts of getting out of the "rat-race" of Focus/Mundeo etc. Just what I did, and never had any regrets!!

This one looks quite smart although obviously needing some improving - worth watching perhaps.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Morris-Minor- ... 23179b97f9

Looks like a good honest workhorse which you could improve as you wanted. I like the bit of kitchen roll wedged between bulkhead and heater inlet pipe- an ideal place for any odds and ends, like a spare spark plug and spanner. The paper towel is no doubt to wipe the dipstick on before checking the oil level! Just like mine!!
Only thing is it hasn't reached the reserve- I hate that sort of ad, because you don't know whether you are in with a chance, or miles away!

Hi gentlemen,thought i'd let you know that for once in my life i am going to be patient and pass on the Traveller i asked you about and wait until the right one comes along,so i dare say i'll be back asking again for opinions
Many thanks