From The Classifieds: 1959 Morris Minor 1000 four-door
There was a time when British small cars ruled. In fact the Morris Minor became the first British car to top the one million sales mark in 1960The Morris Minor was more than a minor presence on the Australian market during the 1950s and 1960s.
Generally pre-dating the Volkswagen beetle and sold at the same time as Austin’s A40 Farina and the Standard 10 (from the same company that sold Vanguard sedans and Triumph TR sports cars), the little Morris tends to be more visible today than a lot of its peers. This is undoubtedly due to the fact that, in 1960, the Minor was successful enough to become the first
British car to sell more than one million units.
The Alex Issigonis designed Morris was relatively sophisticated mechanically, what with its torsion bar front suspension and rack and pinion steering. It started life in 1948 as a 918cc side-valve “lowlight” two-door sedan and convertible with its headlights incorporated into the grille surroundings, eventually evolving into the final shape as the two and four-door Morris Minor 1000.
The side valve engine, along with its four-speed close ratio gearbox was eventually dropped, in the interim between the original Minor and the 1000 model, in favour of a newly developed 800cc overhead valve Austin engine with a new set of gearbox ratios. This engine was the precursor to the A series powerplant that was a familiar in the likes of the Morris 850 mini, the Austin Healey Sprite and the transverse-engine, front-drive Morris 1100.
In many markets the Morris Minor was sold not just in two and four-door form, but also as a convertible and “Woody” Traveller wagon. Australian-built Minors stayed with two and four-door variants.
This neat 1959 Morris Minor 1000 four-door from the inner Melbourne suburb of Middle Park grabbed our attention because of its history: Reportedly rarely driven over the last 20 years – during which it spent much of its time located away in a shed – the white Minor (it was originally green, explaining the interior trim colours) is showing just 23,269 miles on the odometer.
According to the information supplied to carsales, everything about the car is “immaculate”. The most recent work has been on the front brakes which have been “fully replaced”, while the owner says it has been driven for “around six hours” during the past six months to help keep it in good running shape.
The Minor is currently tagged at $12,000 although the owner says that is negotiable. The owner says updates are to be added “Including a photo of the original batch number plate from when the car was assembled in Melbourne.”
A nostalgic reminder of British small-car glory.
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