Re: A new home for Max the Minor
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2019 11:32 am
A nice find, happy motoring ! 
Would it be a B or O series engine?
Morris Minor Owners Club
Promoting the Preservation and Use of the Postwar Morris Minor
https://board.mmoc.org.uk/
A new home for Max the Minor
Page 2 of 2
Re: A new home for Max the Minor
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2019 12:28 pm
What a great find, I like that
Would it be a B or O series engine?
Would it be a B or O series engine?
Re: A new home for Max the Minor
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2019 1:07 pm
That'll be a "B"Series engine 
Re: A new home for Max the Minor
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2019 2:59 pm
Well done, good choice(apart from the auto bit).
I have one too, and (whisper it) I prefer driving it to my Minors!
I have one too, and (whisper it) I prefer driving it to my Minors!
Re: A new home for Max the Minor
Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2019 7:46 am
Auto was the prime deciding factor for me. I'm developing arthritis which is starting to make a clutch pedal something of a challenge.
You have one as well....? Which one...?
Re: A new home for Max the Minor
Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2019 7:58 am
It is Jade Green although in photographs it looks like the slightly darker and later (1978) Tara Green.ManyMinors wrote: ↑Wed Sep 04, 2019 11:21 am That's a very tidy Marina. Quite a high spec as well. One of my colleagues had a "Marina Special" in that colour as a company car. Jade Green is it?
'Jade Green' and 'Tara Green' ... sound like sisters competing in a third-rate reality TV show!
Re: A new home for Max the Minor
Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2019 8:04 am
Re: A new home for Max the Minor
Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2019 10:23 am
Excellent, great parts availability and a trusty old lump
Re: A new home for Max the Minor
Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2019 8:19 am
Mines a 1980 Mk 3 1.3. Did toy with fitting MGB motor and box, but would have entailed too much "cutting and shutting" to accommodate the over drive box. (I bought it less engine). It now has an Ital A+ 1300.
Re: A new home for Max the Minor
Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2019 10:29 pm
Very nice car!
Plus these days I think you can get away with saying you are the 'proud owner' of one.
Although I personally don't think they were as bad as people made out, my parents one was passed onto me as my first car, long gone now I suspect but my memory of it was always tainted by the fact that I would have dearly loved to have inherited the car it replaced (which I grew up with and held all my cherished childhood memories, so the Marina stood no chance really to be fair.....) a Triumph Herald. A car that is still on my bucket list....
Best wishes,
Mike.
Plus these days I think you can get away with saying you are the 'proud owner' of one.
Although I personally don't think they were as bad as people made out, my parents one was passed onto me as my first car, long gone now I suspect but my memory of it was always tainted by the fact that I would have dearly loved to have inherited the car it replaced (which I grew up with and held all my cherished childhood memories, so the Marina stood no chance really to be fair.....) a Triumph Herald. A car that is still on my bucket list....
Best wishes,
Mike.
Re: A new home for Max the Minor
Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2019 11:31 pm
Because of the negative hype over this car, people are reluctant to say otherwise, fearing ridicule. Having owned a couple, I defend it. The estate version is particularly striking, stylish in fact.
- F7632663-A6AA-4F40-81DA-657B9096B424.jpeg (270.61 KiB) Viewed 3285 times
Re: A new home for Max the Minor
Posted: Sat Sep 07, 2019 10:07 am
'Don't knock it until you've tried it' as the saying goes. IMHO the 'troubles' which plagued BL in the '70s has left a long shadow. Many people who cite the Allegro as a 'bad' car aren't even old enough to remember them clearly, and simply repeat heresay.
My sister had an ex-demo Allegro back in 1974 - with the square steering wheel. Apart from a recall early on, to rectify the faulty rear hub collars, I remember it being a perfectly good car in which she did her (usually daily) commute from Croydon, Surrey to Colchester, Essex for two years.
Around 1979/80 when working at a BL dealership, I seem to recall that warranty claims on Allegros, Marinas, Maxis and Minis, along with most Triumphs, were relatively low. Princesses for some reason (incorrectly fitted interior trim?) were slightly higher, with Rover SD1s topping the list.
Incidentally - I've pencilled the 'Festival of the Unexceptional' into my diary for next year!
Re: A new home for Max the Minor
Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2019 7:58 am
'Jade Green' and 'Tara Green' ... sound like sisters competing in a third-rate reality TV show!
Don't speak too soon it could happen!
Though I won't be watching, as I think all these, so called, 'reality TV' shows are a load of third rate Cr*p!
Back on the subject of Marinas, I agree with the above comments, I would certainly be happy to give one room on my driveway.
I hope you will still come to MMOC events, it is a Morris after all.
For everyday use though, when the Polo gives up, I've often considered an Austin Maxi to be a sound choice.
Often derided when in 1500 format but what do you think?
Best wishes,
Mike.
Re: A new home for Max the Minor
Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2019 8:27 am
The Marina 1800cc estate and the Ital 1.7 estate I previously owned both gave stirling service but out of the two the 1800cc estate was my preferred vehicle.
Re: A new home for Max the Minor
Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2019 8:41 am
jagnut66 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 08, 2019 7:58 amAs you say, the Marina is 'family'. I'll still be coming to MMOC events. I haven't yet joined the Marina club but, with only around 400 Marinas still on the road I'm expecting the club to be smaller and holding fewer events. Ironically the Marina feels capable of longer journeys than my Minor did, putting areas such as the east Midlands (hardly a LONG trip) confidently within reach.'
I hope you will still come to MMOC events, it is a Morris after all.
For everyday use though, when the Polo gives up, I've often considered an Austin Maxi to be a sound choice.
Often derided when in 1500 format but what do you think?
Best wishes,
Mike.
As to the Maxi. I'd included it on my shopping list. Never had a 1500 before, but two 1750s over the years. Mk1 which had rust issues and eventually suffered a failed hydrolastic displace, at a time when repair was uneconomical. Mk.2 which I used as a mini-cab for almost two years. Supremely comfortable and roomy. Especially the Mk.2 with its cloth seats. The gearchanges were perhaps a little vague but easier than my dad's Talbot Horizon (same era; same basic set-up). After the 'mini-cab' Maxi I changed to a Sierra. Following heavy overnight snow the Sierra refused to start one day. The Maxi which had been standing on the driveway untouched for six months, fired up first time!
Re: A new home for Max the Minor
Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2019 9:47 am
I had a 1750 Maxi for a couple of years in the early seventies and it was a car that couldn't be faulted. Reliable, roomy, comfortable, economical and showing no signs of rusting during my tenure; the only reason that I decided to move it on was that a three-year old Rover 3500S became available at trade price. My Maxi had the later, sorted gear linkage rather than the original, stretchy cable connection so gearchange was always A1 too. A good car.
Re: A new home for Max the Minor
Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2019 10:42 am
I had a 1500 Maxi for a while in the seventies as a junk-hauler. As a classic? No, I wouldn’t bother.