Morris Minor Owners Club

Thinking of making my minor a daily driver. I have a modern car I’m going to sell as I don’t do a lot of mileage & it’s wasted money sitting there. Atleast the minor is tax & mot exempt & cheap insurance.

However I am hesitant to make it my sole vehicle for transport. Does anyone else use theirs daily & if so how do you find it? I’ll probably have something cheap & cheerful by winter time to drive but for the next few summer months I’ll use the minor daily. HOPEFULLY!

Just a thought ... be sure your taxes and insurance premiums don't jump skyward, if your MM becomes your daily driver.

Here in the States, registration, property tax, and insurance are low for an older car, but only if you don't use it as a daily driver, and have another vehicle to use as such.

Tom M.

the only thing that will make a difference is if you use it to commute into work. I don't have a "regular" car, but the traveller is insured leisure only and comes in about £90 a year.

No I don’t use it for commuting to work. It would only be for leisure & general trips to shops or weekend journeys etc.

I have a Traveller as my daily driver. In fact, it's the only car I've ever owned. It's absolutely usable as a normal car, including on long drives and motorways; I drove from Hastings to Inverness in it a few years ago. It's very noisy and it can be a bit cold in the winter but it's horses for courses, I put up with it because I love Morris Minors! As a sensible choice for a car for a non Minor enthusiast, I'd never recommend it in a million years but if the joy of driving it outweighs the problems it has compared to a modern car, it does the job just fine.

With regards to insurance, I have unlimited mileage including commuting to work and it's still only £100 per year.

Remember that these cars were all used as daily drivers once! That is what they were made for! Assuming the car is properly maintained and in good working order, it will be fine for a local runaround. I don't use my Minor daily, but it is my only car and gets regular use for shopping and leisure activities. Wouldn't want to be bombing all over the country every day though..........
Like 'james k' hints, you've got to be into Minors and want to do it and happy to put up with the 'minor' inconveniences that others would not countenance.

I am lucky enough to have a modern car as well but in the past have commuted 50miles daily in the Minor without a second thought. I would do it again if I needed to. If you are only thinking about the coming few months pottering about I would say "go for it". As others have said, the car needs to be in decent condition to be safe and reliable but I actually think these cars are better for being used regularly and all the stories we hear about owners with seized up brake cylinders and poor running issues are often because their cars are not used enough

Quite so, 'manyminors'! A beloved great aunt of mine who had two Minors over the years (and who is probably the reason I am a Morris Minor enthusiast!) always impressed upon me that a car needs regular usage and a periodic 'good run' She also was a stickler for regular servicing, which meant her cars were pretty much always trouble-free

I would use mine as a daily driver but for two things. (1) - it’s rainy in Scotland and (2) grit salt on roads all winter. Those two things significantly accelerate corrosion. Which can be dealt with, but at an ongoing cost.

If it weren’t for the above I’d happily use my Minor daily all year round. It’s a perfectly capable car, even in standard 948cc form.

If you do it, good luck and enjoy.

We did it for seven years and it was a lot of fun, we'll be back to using it once I stop getting carried away and put the engine back in.

I say stick an extra coat of underbody rustproofing (Bilt Hamber Dynax UB spray is dead easy), fit a good condenser plus good window seals and go out and enjoy it!

I've used mine as an everyday car for over 40 years, at one point covering 18,000 miles per annum. It will never be concours, it doles require maintenance, but is perfectly adequate for most purposes. Do it.