Morris Minor Owners Club

It would be intresting to find out who has got the newest Morris Minor.

I can claim to have a Morris Minor two-door saloon that was sold on almost the last day of production 11th November 1970.

The Chassis No is - MA255 1284118

From information on the web -

The last 4-door saloon was 1288299 (November 11th, 1970).
The last saloon shipped to Denmark was 1288317 (November 11th, 1970).
The last 2-door saloon was 1288377 (November 12th, 1970).


Something else of interest the original service book say that the car had its 39000 ( or 39 Months ) service with a mileage of 27258 on the 5/11/84

14 years to do 27000 mile isn't bad is it ?


James.

I would assume that the last Morris Minor would be registered in New Zealand, as they continued with them until about 1973 (I think), or did you just mean the last UK model?

I do not mind whether if it's from the UK or abroad.

If it helps -

who has the newest registered car ( highest Chassis Number ) from the UK.

who has the newest registered car ( highest Chassis Number ) from the any where else in the world.

James,

I'm afraid I can't help with my chassis no: 124889, and I thought it was a pretty late model ('69).

It would also be interesting to see who has the earliest car (apart from number 1, obviously!! )

P.S. your chassis number has a missing digit!! was this an omitted for secuity purposes or was it a mistake? (I have omitted the last digit of mine just in case )

I have no further details but there was one Minor which was constructed
using 100% new spare parts several years after production stopped.
Must have cost a fortune!!
Willie

Sorry It was a mistake.

James

Yes Willie, there was a saloon made in 1974, and there's an article on it in the members area. It cost £3,925.04, which I suppose was quite a lot of money then.

BUT...



Therefore is it the newest "Morris Minor", or the only "Dutton - Foreshaw" Minor ever made?


Chris

The Dutton Forshaw Minor must be the last built in the U.K? In current monetary terms it would be like paying 30 grand plus for a Rover dealer to build a Rover 100/Metro from spares. It goes to show the loyalty Minor owners felt for their cars almost 30 years ago.

Does anyone know if the car still exists? The owner would be cursing the fact that (uniquely) he/she still has to pay car tax!

I believe Minor LCVs were built until 1974 in New Zealand.

Apparently it took some time to sell the last Minor Saloons hence the number of 'J' reg cars in the U.K. I wonder if there are any 'K' reg cars out there? (August 1971 onwards).

I'm not sure I'd count the Dutton as the last one, though it would be very interesting to know if it still exists - and a tribute to how good spare parts used to be...

I have 2 'J' reg minors on the drive but only 125... and Gayles's car 126... so they are nowhere near the last.
I have seen a K reg Minor a few years ago so they do exist, but that doesn't mean it was the last made as it may have been stuck at some quiet dealer etc.. for a long time.
If the MMOC details were on a database - they might be able to find the last made car in the club??

Yes! Here in New Zealand we did continue LCV production until '73 with some not registered until '74.

Our chassis numbers fit into the UK numbering system and it seems the number was issued on shipping rather than assembly. So for example my '57 4 dr (FAH55509077) fits to about March '57 in UK but was actually first put on the road here on 13th December '57. So while our plates may not be later our vehicles may be younger.

I also have a 1968 flatdeck with 247627

A 1970 van with 283626P

And a 1973, 1098 wellside pickup with 314101N

Mine was built within the last day or so of production of Minor saloons having a very late saloon chassis number. Traveller vehicles lasted a lot longer once production was relocated to Adderley Park

Ian

One point to note is that the commercials have a seperate chassis numbering system to other MMs!

My Traveller was first registered 01/10/1971 and I was told by original owner that it was 69th from the last produced ---- does that count ??

Taking this somewhat further, how about the latest registered ones. I seem to remember some ex-MOD travellers being sold into civillian use with 'T' suffix plates ('78-'79)

What about imported exports?? a bit of a rare animal, but I bet it happened, I wonder what year they stopped issuing import year plates, and changed over to age related? I bet it was quite recent.

I think it's best to stick to the chassis numbers!!!!

But it would be interesting to see the latest plate, as Vulcan suggests

At the BT sell off memorabilia auction a couple of weeks ago there was a Minor van needed a bit of work that was on a `L` 1972 plate, but as to its manufacturing date Cam is right about sticking to the chassis number, I dont know if anyone else remembers but the club got from Ireland a complete bodyshell that was unused from an old dealer, so there will always be some that are registered some time after they were manufactured.

In the late 90s there was an artical in the classic cars magazine, comparing the first & last minors. It claimed that the J reg 2dr featured was the last two door built. It was trafalgar blue & was also for sale at the time. There have also been a few fascinating articles about "new" morris minors. Original ones that were never sold & have sat layed up with 15 miles on the clock! cool. lol. This one was still in as new condition as well!

james, mine was registered in October 1970, so it was one of the last 5,000 also.
I am interested to know what is on your horn push. (I know Cam Im back on this! LOL!!) I have an austin push on mine (deemed original by a garage owning friend but Im not yet convinced). I wondered if the last ones were a mix of austin and morris before they became totally austin.
Jane
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Jane, you're getting confused about Austin badged versions. This only applied to commercials (made from about 1970 until 1972). No passenger saloons or travellers were ever turned out with Austin badges , crinckled grille etc. In fact there is no such thing as an Austin Minor - the Austin commercials were not described as Minors.

Chances are that the original Morris horn push malfunctioned at some point. It may well be that there were no genuine Morris ones left, hence the use of a genuine Austin version on your car.

My horn push disintegrated several years ago - ESM provided a new replacement, but it had some obscure logo on it. As far as I know you can't get a genuine new push with the 'M' on it. I did get a very good one off E-bay from a guy in California. Eventually I'll fit it to my car... When you get Minor Matters you'll see adverts in the back for dismantlers who can probably supply a good s/hand horn push. Also they do come up on E-Bay from time to time.

I salvaged a morris one from a donor car I have, just havent put it on yet! I rather liked the austin knight so I keep him on
Jane
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