Morris Minor Owners Club

So I am looking at all the sameness of all the modern day cars and thinking about how complex they have become as well...

Then I thought..."how would repop of the iconic Morris Minor work out in todays world??..."

It would be simple to fix...good on gas...an everyday driver but with the cool factor too of the Morris Minor...maybe disc brakes and a 5 speed transmission too...

Just thinking out loud...

Any thoughts from you fine folks??

Thanks in advance.

The Mini, the Beetle, the fiat 500 and their larger versions are all very well in their way but none have the charm of 1950s /60s motoring with early braking, effective distances, double de-clutching and the occasional ingress of rain. For me, my modern car is great, but my heart lifts on driving the Minor, with its farting on the over run and the smiles on people's faces as you pootle by.

Due to regulatory compliance a reproduction would just be as sanitised as the ones mentioned. Ive owned an original fiat 500 and driven my daughter's modern version. Vaguely similar shape and fiat badge the only connection. The only way to get that true classic car feeling is to drive the genuine article and embrace the quirks. No substitute for the real thing.
I hate looky likey anything.

Thank you for giving me a good laugh on my Sunday morning; and I don't mean that is any disparaging manner.

A 'modern reproduction' would likely be 'good on gas' as you put it as it would probably have a 1ltr engine and return around 50mpg, that's in Imperial gallons, probably around 40mpg US.

But as to the 'simple to fix'.... you'd need the specialist software and computer support to work on it, with a complex range of specialist tools and doing anything to it would require at least 8 other items removing for access...
There would be so many safety requirements that it would look like it was on steroids, in order to get all the crumple zones and other features into it.

It would have so many airbags inside you'd need to know exactly what you were doing in case you set one off.

And finally, it would smell of plastic rather than 70 years of history

I actually think a "modern" Minor could work and I think it'd sell very well.

Of course you won't get the same experience with it, nor should anyone expect to, but with all the common, boxy cars we get today, something retro-styled would appeal to a large portion of drivers, young and old. Minors have that quintessential British charm and heritage about them to make them as or possibly more successful than the "new" Beetle was.

Air-headed wives of wealthy bankers in Knightsbridge would be the first to snap them up, especially if they made a battery-powered variant.

It wouldn't sell because the current trend seems to be producing cars with the aerodynamics of a house brick and looking aggressively ugly.

The answer possibly may be in the popularity of the small Fiats and of course the Nissan Figaros that have been imported from Japan.
The problem as I see it is legislation.
Cars are fitted with air bags and a mass of electronic safety systems that are pressed upon us by successive administrations, they all have to fit in somewhere, the expanse that is the modern mini is a fine example.
However, I think you touch on a good point, there is I think a market for a simple mode of transport, Renault are close with the Dacia range, doing away with a lot of unnecessary electronic nonsense.
The Morris name is I believe held by the Chinese MG company though, presumably they have the Minor tag too.
My better half owns an MG of the modern variety, in its own way it is a very good value for money car, but I dread hanging on to it for too long, electric hand brake, lane wander warnings and even the air vents are operated by touch screen, the adage " the more you have, the more you have to go wrong" must apply with age and mileage.
And dont get me started on tyre pressure sensors................................

Apparently it is very hard to make a profit on a smaller car unless the volume is big. I don't know what 'big' is but it sort of makes sense.

The 2005 remake:
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new- ... rris-minor

The 2025 Fake:
https://dal-motors.com/car-news/2025-morris-minor/

The least said on the "fake" the better.
If, as we have, people asking me what my car is, or was right now, there must be rapidly approaching a time when people have no memory of, or therefore attachment to the name Minor.
So if nothing is done soon, nothing will be done ever.
My preference is that any factory be built here, as with Nissan, the real benefits of motor manufacturing apply in the place of production.
If a Minor was the end product, all to the good.
We can but dream.

As others have said already, IF it ever did happen that there was a modern Minor it would not be the car that we all so obviously love. Any modern version would have to comply with all of the modern standards and regulations and so even with the best intentions to stay true to to the original design, there is no way it would be anything like the original. I recall test driving a VW Golf GTI (Mark 3) in 1993 and even then being very disappointed by how bloated and boring it was compared to a Mark 1. A modern Minor would be much bigger (cf original Mini vs modern Mini), plasticky, need a computer to do anything with it, might even be hybrid or fully electric, and it would not smell of horsehair and oil!


Stephen

svenedin wrote: ↑Tue May 12, 2026 9:31 am and it would not smell of horsehair and oil!

Just think, the first modification could be to replace the cabin air filter with a box of old horsehair coated in oil

I find it interesting that Convertibles still have the smell, I'd expected it to be lost more than the other types.

Chief wrote: ↑Tue May 12, 2026 11:34 am

svenedin wrote: ↑Tue May 12, 2026 9:31 am and it would not smell of horsehair and oil!

Just think, the first modification could be to replace the cabin air filter with a box of old horsehair coated in oil

I find it interesting that Convertibles still have the smell, I'd expected it to be lost more than the other types.

Yes convertibles do still have that smell, it's the back seat stuffing I think and it is augmented by the smell of old canvas for those with canvas hoods.

Stephen

Honestly, I can't see the point of a modern version - as others have pointed out, it would neither look like, or feel like, a real Minor.