Why Minors?

[Fingolfin]

Being young members, how did everyone come across Minors, and why do you suppose they enthrall you?

I'll tell my story. My father is a carpet-layer and travels all around our area, and one day while riding home from work he spotted this strange-shaped car sitting in someone's driveway, with a 'for sale' sign on it. After some thought he recognized it as a Morris Minor (remember, we're Americans, so Minors aren't seen all the time) and brought my mum up there with him on his return; they both loved it.
At the time I was seventeen and wasn't really interested in driving: I understood the need, but I preferred not; it wasn't all that fun to me. Then mum and dad told me about this car they found, and I looked the Morris Minor up on Wikipedia, and it looked fascinating -- British (I'm an Anglophile from way back), classic, a unique shape, not a lot of bells and whistles, a car I could work on myself rather than being a prisoner of. So I went with them to see it, and sat in it, and it felt so right. That day we purchased it and drove it home.
It's been driven a total of about sixty miles by us -- for two years it's mostly been sitting.

And yes, I do call my mother 'mum'. I'm aware Americans use 'mom', and I say 'mom', but I spell it 'mum'.

So share your stories! I'll be fascinated to know!

[Sidney'61]

I've always been fascinated with cars and machines (hence im now a mechanical engineering student) so from a very young age dreamed of having my own car that I could pull apart and rebuild, I don't know why I ended up falling in love with the minor in particular but it's possibly because my grandad had one in the 50s/60s, then another, so him and my dad will have told me stories about them. Basically I knew I wanted a minor from the age of about 7, after 8 years of trawling ebay and pleading with my parents to let me use their garage space I finally bought one at 15 I don't intent to ever own a modern car, if I somehow do turn to the darkside and get a modern there will still always be a minor or 2 (or 3 or 4) in my garage.

[stevey]

Well Ive always liked classic cars, something with a bit of character and build quality and i was bought a model million when i was little and it started from there I recon. I did a write up a while ago for our website on getting my minor. have a look

http://www.mmoc-ni.co.uk/clubs/under_construction.htm

[limegreen]

I'm not sure.. I think it had something to do with fate. I kinda woke up and NEEDED one.

[Kevin]

I'm not sure.. I think it had something to do with fate. I kinda woke up and NEEDED one.

Well that's what I call a passion

[dalebrignall]

i just like the shape and the charm the car has.its qwerky too,and very reliable .just puts a smile on my face thats the best way i can put it .

[mmjosh]

i have liked them since i was given my first one at 12 which sadly got scrapped

[chrisryder]

My dad got one when I was 5 or 6. Believe it or not I wasnt a big fan. We've still got it, its a 53 split screen with a cheesegrater grille. I always thought it looked a bit weird until we started going to rallys, mainly MOT, which we first went on in 2001. We met all these other like minded people of all ages. Quite a few kids the same age as me that made the whole week a lot more fun. It was there I started noticing all the different types and the later slat face rather than the cheesegrater, which I immediately prefered! A lot of people modify their minors to go on the MOT as its a long haul for a standard one. I found it amazing the variety of things people have done. For several years a guy with a saloon that had a 2.0 vauxhall engine in would come along. That car amazed me!

I decided a few years later (age 14ish) that I wanted a minor of my own so that I too could go on MOT's with my own minor, and one day my own family (abitious thoughts for a 14 year old!). I spent the next 2 years diving on Minor Matters every 2 months to get to the 'Cars For Sale' section before anyone else. I'd trawl down looking for the price first to see if i could afford it. Then looking at the rest of the ad to see if i like what i could afford! A few nice things appeared but by the time i'd rang they were always sold.

Then a guy in our branch said he was selling one of his saloons. So i bit his hand off and bought his 2 door when i was 16. It was pretty shabby but it ran. Was multicoloured and i had over a year before i'd be able to drive it so i thought i'd take it apart, fix any rust, and give it a respray in time for passing my test.

At 18 my dad said 'i've found another minor for sale, it's quite tidy, doesnt need any work, you can drive it for a bit while you're doing up the other one'. We went halves on this 4 door (which is the one in my sig) and immediately got it home and had to overhaul the brakes, replace both rear inner wings, both sides of sills, and 1/4 of the floor! Then i've had my fair share of head gasket, engine, gearbox and diff changes in the last 3 years. In the meantime the little old 2 door has been sat in the garage in pieces watching me work on the 4 door and no doubt getting jealous!

I know not everyone is a fan of modifying, but when I'm at a show, even the national. Rows and rows of standard cars are slightly boring. Unless you want to get all nerdy and go 'ooh this vehicle has been converted to negative earth, that's not standard... ooooh'. I spend half my day looking at every nook and cranny in the Custom and Modified sections because no 2 are alike, it's fascinating!

Why Minors?

You can do anything to them yourself. You can modify them how you want. They're not as common or obvious as a Mini or a Beetle. They always provoke conversation, even at traffic lights!. People stop in their tracks to watch you drive past. They're cheap to insure. They hold their value. They look awesome...

Why Minors? WHY NOT?!

[davidpidge]

I cant remember how I ended up wanting one. I remember being on ebay then its all a blur and now i've had 2! They're cheaper than beetles and minis and more practical. They're more reliable than beetles, nicer to drive and havnt been owned by people who just stick in some subs and 6x9's and destroy them! Not that I have anything against beetles you see.

Even with my very limited mechanical knowledge I haven't found anything I cant do with a few tools, a jack and a lot of brute force and ignorance! (Although I almost gave up trying to get the spigot bearing back in. Lucky they're cheap because I went through 4 of 'em!) Theres so much choice as well. 2 door, 4 door, splitty, van, pickup......broken etc

I love the fact that no one understands why I like them. One of my mates is firmly in the VW camp, has a splitty bus and one of my mates has a beetle. another likes Capri's and VW Sorocco's! Both the Vw bus and the beetle have had to have new engines! an A-series will never die.....just get slower.

[hotrodder13]

i grew up with hotrods and a minor was my fav classic car, and easy to change bits to make a huge diffrance in looks

[Alex'n'Ane]

Tbh i bought my first because it was a classic car (which i always wanted) available within my budget, and available locally. You then get to love them, and having seen the simplicity and mods done to them, i bought a second. Why another minor? well coz now i love them..

[splitscreenstu]

Well, I must say a minor wasn't the classic I yearned! But I did want a split screen car with trafficators and the ole silver/black number plate. My moggie is a '56 , mis-matched seats (now there's a hint , need front red seats!) . Bit of a labour of love , despite the many hours spent with grace and favour at my local garage ,where i used to work, two of my doors still strike the posts. I spent last weekend just fitting a sill finisher. It was welded on! I've made a new interior,door cards ,carpets and a groovy gearstick gaitor. The headlining is so rotton that if I sneezed I think the aftermath would cause a Biohazard.
But I do love "millie" so. Will just hand paint it for now. I fitted a heater that I reconned from an 'ole mini to take the damp out the many holes (standard and age related) . Will take the flat cap off the hat stand next week for the first outing.
Everyone has a memory of a Minor , what a sociable wee car. So many people have stopped to talk to me about her.
I think i'm a convert. could do without the rust though!!