Morris for my First Car?

[rubybest]

Morning everyone,

I am currently 15 and looking at learning to drive (i know it sounds early but my dad's a hot rodder and I am looking at racing at the VHRA Pendine Sands event in 2018, which could happen mere weeks after my 17th). My Mum used to have a moggie about 5 years ago, and we restored it then sold it. I would definitely like to learn to drive on one, but is this truly practical? Any thoughts would be appreciated, looking forward to your replies.

[Chipper]

Definitely a good first car - very simple, pretty durable, excellent parts availability, cheap insurance group, free road tax and easy DIY maintenance - great for learning about cars, not only how to drive one but how they work too; I got given my 1970 Traveller when I was 18, and have learnt a huge amount about cars from working on it over the years, having attended to just about every aspect of it as and when required.

If you look after it, it will hold its value or appreciate too.

[philthehill]

If you do manage to get a drive at Pendine and I hope you do - you will be following the steps of some great historic and famous drivers such as Sir Malcolm Campbell and Parry Thomas.

I have only ever driven cautiously on Pendine Sands and was lucky enough to be able to drive very near to the end of the sands where they turn left up to Ginst Point and even that is an experience especially with the tide out.

The Morris Minor is an ideal car to learn to drive in and if you tune it you could always drive it at Pendine Sands at a future date.

Best of luck.

Phil

[TDV102]

My first car was a Minor, and I learned so many skills keeping it on the road myself. Cheap to run, good on fuel, great clubs and so much cooler than driving a boring small eurobox.

[Mark Wilson]

It will also teach you the importance of observation and anticipation, not just stamping on highly efficient brakes with ABS.......

[DAVIDMCCULLOUGH]

I got my first one at 15 and still have it at 40! Great car to learn on you should have no problems when it comes to getting insurance.

[JOWETTJAVELIN]

Just be mindful of the fact that they like to rot and the saloon won't take much luggage. Otherwise, economical and rugged. You will need to be handy with the grease gun every few months.

[MoggyBlue]

Welcome. At ages 20 I now own 2 moggies. And having a moggy as my first car at aged 19. They are great first cars and your friends will hate you when you tell them your insurance will be about £800 and don't pay tax ;). If your on Facebook we have the mmoc young members Facebook page ( that's where most of the chat happens for the young members) join there and you'll get endless help in starting off

[MorrismattVan]

Yes go for it!
I'm 21 and have 13, or 14 cars now, the newest is 1992 and the oldest is 1964, I've never had a proper breakdown yet, and to be honest I hate anything new!
If you do start off with a classic, then you will at least know how to drive a proper car- who needs abs, power steering, central locking, electric windows??!!
Yes the older cars do rot away! But don't let that faze you- if it's got holes in- weld it up! just be mindfull of how many pounds you have to chuck at it!!
Morris minors are good cars to start with, you get get any spares you like relatively cheap, pretty easy to work on and it isn't going to break the bank in terms of tax, insurance, petrol etc.
Good luck, matt

[Blaketon]

Do some hypothetical insurance quotes (Corsa etc V Minor)and I'm sure you'll see it makes sense.

Aside from that, it still makes sense, especially if you learn to or can use a set of tools. I'm sure a lot of people are hard up, in part, due to the costs of keeping the modern circuit boards on wheels going. Only this week, a customer was telling me how he spent £800 trying to fix a "BSI" (I think that was the term - some electronic malady on the fuel injection) to no avail, so he put the car up for auction. I'm not saying you can run a Minor on thin air BUT looked after and garaged overnight, it will give years of service and you won't get into the cycle of regular horrendous bills and depreciation. Someone once compared Minor ownership to owning a house. If a house needs repair, you don't sell it or knock it down, you do the repair and hopefully enhance the value of the house.

You could consider an original style Mini but I suspect the insurance may well be lower on a Minor, as the Mini may have more of a boy racer image (Maybe by now that's worn off). I think that the rallying scene has made Minis more expensive to buy (A bit like RWD Ford Escorts). Both are good on spare parts and both are easy enough to work on (Quick release grille fixings are a must on the Mini). Having had both, the Mini is smaller and lighter, so more economical and faster for any given engine size and whilst the Minor handles well, the Mini is better (Than most things actually). The Minor is a more sturdily built car and offers a more comfortable ride. It's also about the easiest car to get in and out of, so if ever age makes me less mobile, I hope I'll still be able to manage the Minor!!

As a younger person, if it's anything like my day (And I'm sure it is), there will be a lot of peer pressure to go for a "Prattmobile" (As I call them), with a sub woofer and wide wheels. As a child, all my peers had Chopper bikes and I had a Carlton 10 speed road bike (18" frame and 24" wheels). Despite the fact that the Chopper was apparently a much better bike than my crappy "Racer", I went a lot faster on it, for far less effort. The trouble is that vanity is the most popular hobby and it manifests itself in many forms, whether it be a £6000 bicycle (Being in the cycle trade I see lots of them, who want the lightest, most expensive bike but they fail to grasp that they could lose more weight off themselves, than ever they can lose off the bike), the flashy car, the cruise they like to boast about or so I am told, the latest in bathroom fashion is a square toilet!! It's best to live your life for you and yours and as to the vain and the fashion concious, I often ask when you have impressed a moron, what have you achieved? Things don't have to be good to sell or bad to not sell; it's often down to marketing, which often works when two things are mixed; the first smells and the second is stupidity. Does a certain Mrs Beckham really help to design a certain type of automotive handbag and if she does, is that really a desirable attribute? I'm sure if they still made Reliant Robins and marketed them in the right way, to give them the right image, they would sell really well.

I am quite sure that some of my neighbours see me as the poor devil with the old bangers, who rides his bike to work. Well my old cars (Not bangers) will still be going when their neglected heaps are bean tins and hopefully I'll still be in good health when they're all on death's door.

[MorrismattVan]

Yes defiantly sort out insurances befor buying a car. When I was 17 I realy struggled with classic insurance, a lot of companies have a over 21 policy for classic insurance. But if you look around you will find someone that will insure you.