Morris Minor Owners Club

Greetings! I'm pleased to join you all!
I'm just in the process of overseeing the restoration of Kitty, my 1963 Traveller. Bought her about 11 years ago, and ran her happily for about 4 years until a little issue with the gearbox, and maybe some sill work need doing...and she's been off the road ever since. Turned into a major rebuild started about 2 years ago, but she is looking much better now, if somewhat naked.

The next conundrum is what colour she needs to be. She is originally that rather generously named Rose Taupe. I think she may still have most of her original paint, now faded to what can best be described at cat-poo brown, hence her name. For obvious reasons, I'd rather change this to something else. But what? I actually would love her to be lilac, and was thrilled to see that lilac was an original colour, albeit not for the Traveller. The problem is she has a red interior, which would probably look wrong with Lilac (and it should be vanilla in that Minor Millions colour scheme). Unfortunately, the interior is probably the best bit of the car, and given what everything else is costing, I hate to change that as well!

I'd love any suggestions, or even just reassurance that Lilac & Red won't look revolting!

(Edited typo!)

It's usually nice to see pictures of ongoing restorations but if there is 'someone naked'...….perhaps this is not the place

Obviously, colour is all a matter of personal choice and for me I can't think of anything worse than a lilac traveller - with or without red trim.

Personally, I'm not a great fan of veering too far away from originality but I'm inclined to agree that Rose Taupe was probably thought up by somebody at the factory one Monday morning, after a particularly 'hard' weekend!

If you are intent on a colour change a nice deep green would be my choice but don't just take my word for it.

Can we have a picture in due course please.....once it's been censored, of course!!

Welcome KittyKar,
when i read your post, i thought immediately if you plan a full respray and you don't like rose taube, old english white could be a good alternative. The interior with this would be red as yours.

Hello and welcome. If you would like to change the interior but are concerned about the cost bear in mind that your old interior if removed complete and in good condition can be sold, and if like for like might even pay for the next one.

Maroon B is a nice colour, and goes well with red seats.

Colour is a matter of personal choice; nobody is right, nobody is wrong. I don't mind Rose Taupe. When I bought mine, if I had been given a choice, I'd have gone for Almond Green or Bermuda Blue. I ended up with Teal Blue (Which is fine) but I bought the car, not the colour (I once bought a slime green or Applejack Mini on the same basis). I'm not sure about these days but maroon shades were always devils to fade.

Have you actually seen a Rose Taupe Morris in good condition? It is a very striking colour which looks great and really suits the traveller with the contrasting woodwork You might feel differently about it. Changing the colour of a Minor properly would cost a great deal of money because of all the visible paintwork inside. I agree that Maroon also looks good but it is even more likely to fade than Rose Taupe unfortunately - and you'll probably have to explain to people why your car is painted in a colour which was not available when the car was built!.........

Hi Kittycar rose taupe is a nice colour when polished up

Thanks all! Although I am very appreciative of originality, I have looked at Rose Taupe and....eurgh. No. Just...no.

The obvious would be OEW, such a nice colour combo. But I still love the idea of Lilac. Or if not even a nod to original colours, then a pale mauve...

Does anyone have a cream interior they want to swap for red?

Hi Kitty and welcome. Colour is very personal. I'm 100% with you about Rose Taupe, something that I once described as "sludge", and I'm sure that people can think of a saying about polishing something similar and it's still just polished sludge. No offense to anyone who likes the colour, because I'm also 100% of the opinion that it's your car and you have whatever colour YOU like. My travellers are teal blue that I think looks lovely, but I'm not offedned if others prefer something different.

I'm finiding it hard to visualise a lilac traveller, but have seen the colour used on other non-million cars and it works well. I have also seen a pink convertible and a pink traveller. Not my cup of tea, but again they worked for the owners.

People can get used to almost anyhting, so I suggets that you have a look at a show and when you see a colour that you like, ask what it is and use that. If you want lilac, then go for it. Whatever happens, we'll look forward to seeing the car when it's finished (or earlier oif you fancy posting a few pictures of work in progress).

A ‘Minor Million’ spec Traveller would be an interesting project given that Morris never made one, but I fear a custom made white interior might be horribly expensive.

I read somewhere that Maroon and Trafalgar Blue are currently the most popular Minor colours, making them the easiest to sell and fetching the best prices. Maroon cars came with red seats so would be the easier choice for you.

The other side of the popular colour question is that if a car is painted in a colour which is unpopular or even considered odd it might make it hard to sell when you want to.

Henry Ford had it sorted.

Actually market forces caught up with Ford in the end. By the mid 1920s the model T was getting seriously dated and they had to offer some new colours to boost flagging sales.

ianmack: The great thing is that I hope to never sell Kitty! So resale-ability is a non-issue. This is the car I want to see me out.

Without resale considerations a ‘Minor Million Traveller’ becomes perfectly feasible and I’m warming to the idea myself. You won’t find a white Traveller interior because Morris never made such a thing but a trimmer could quote you for making one. Bear in mind that the Traveller interior is different from other body types and not interchangeable, except for some front pieces. If you prefer modern front seats you might find something suitable in white and then you’d be half way there.

Let us know what you decide.