Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi,
After having quite a few problems with my new Traveller (Electrical, head gasket etc.) as you can see from my other threads, I had the oil, water and fan belt changed this evening and took it out for a proper drive for the first time. I am utterly amazed! The same car that smoked out the entire road and couldn't move uphill on Saturday was a pleasure to drive today It's the first classic I've driven and everyone was warning me about how different they feel from modern cars so I was very nervous. When I took it out this evening though, it didn't feel that much different. Obviously the gears are much further apart than on a modern car and the clutch is heavy but apart from that, it felt pretty normal to drive. It shifted gear smoothly, braked sharply and accelerated quickly. I was also surprised at how much power it has. It had no problem at all climbing a hill at 40mph in top gear. The steering is also extremely light and has great feedback from the road. To top it off, the heater works brilliantly! It blows nice hot air out very quickly just as it should

I'm going to drop it into ESM next week for a good check over but at the moment, I'm very pleased with how it goes. It's just as I'd hoped it would be and nothing like I'd expected

Thanks to everyone for all the help I've received on the forum so far. It's been really helpful!

James.

Welcome to Minor driving!!

Excellent For a 'basic' car they have very good road manners

I remember back when I first started driving in the late 1980s, I was given a 1970 1098cc Traveller (which I still have), while my pal had a 1968 VW Beetle 1300. While his really struggled on any steep hills (particularly motorway inclines), mine would sail up with ease.

I also vastly preferred the Minor's precise rack & pinion steering over his Beetle's wooly steering box, and the pedals seemed alot easier to operate than the clunky floor-hinged things you got in a Beetle. Always made me wonder why the Beetle went on to sell so well.