Good Home Wanted For 1951 Saloon

for those with Series MM sidevalve cars produced between September 1948 and February 1953
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HonleyFlier
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Joined: Sun Aug 18, 2019 9:33 pm
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Good Home Wanted For 1951 Saloon

Post by HonleyFlier »

After a great deal of deliberation and with a heavy heart, I have decided to sell my Thames blue MM highlight four-door saloon. I will be advertising in the club magazine in due course but before that I thought I’d put a post on here in case a diehard MM enthusiast is interested.

It’s an interesting and very original car and most of its history is known. It seems it was manufactured on 9 and 10 May 1951 as a LHD but later converted to RHD at the factory and registered in Norwich in December that year. It retains its Norwich registration number EVG 451 to this day and its export edition Operation Manual has been with it all its life. It has painted hubcaps - fitted from new in May ‘51 because of a short-term nickel shortage due to the Korean War. The odometer reading of 76,850 appears accurate.

The car had two Norfolk keepers in the 1950s and a service record survives from this time. In the early sixties for reasons unknown it was laid up for about 20 years before passing into the hands of a loving local owner, Mr Mervyn York of Tunstead, a retired engineer who kept it for more than 30 years. A hand-written note by Mr York indicates the car was repainted in the mid 80s when it was recommissioned but that the bodywork remained original. The car then spent the next three decades being doted upon by Mr York who used it only sparingly, pottering about attending local shows, adding very few miles between MOTs. I have a carrier bag of plaques and one or two awards. Mr York, it seems, died around three and half years ago and a little over two years ago EVG 451 passed through the hands of a middle man, to me.

The car was still in Norfolk at this point and I live in Yorkshire. I tried to drive it home and all seemed well for a hundred miles or so but I ended up breaking down halfway due to a charging fault and had to be recovered. That problem was traced to the regulator and is now fixed, as is a faulty fuel gauge. Additionally, the cooling system has been flushed out and overhauled, new tyres have been fitted (Bridgestones all round), the brakes have been serviced and various minor squeaks and rattles have been traced and sorted. All good! The little side-valve engine is sewing machine quiet. The car is altogether wonderfully original and the underneath and bodywork remains extraordinarily solid: no rot at all. The green leather interior is also original and charming and smells wonderful.

So what’s the problem? Essentially, it’s about lack of time and storage space - the car is kept inside, of course, but it’s keeping another car out in the cold, and because of various commitments I don’t have the time to enjoy it, or to ride my motorcycles which are usually my first choice if I ever do get a chance to sally forth on a sunny afternoon. Also, if I’m honest, buying it on a whim was a bit of a mistake. I decided on the spur of the moment to buy a Minor in memory of family cars when I was a kid in the sixties. My dad had at least three then, but they were all later models and the MM doesn’t really hit the spot. I bought it because it was so totally adorable. I just couldn’t resist it. If I had more covered space and unlimited funds I’d keep it, hoping to have more time to enjoy it in the future. But that’s not the case, sadly, and I’ve hardly driven it this year. What’s that saying, buy in haste, repent at leisure? Anyway, sorry to trot out another cliche, but it’s a super car that really needs to go to someone who will make more use of it than I do.

If anyone is interested in finding out more, or indeed can tell me more about the car, please get in touch. My contact number is 07974 410568. Richard.

PS: There are pics of the car in the Members’ Gallery and I have more which I can send via email or WeTransfer.
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