Morris Minor Review & Buying Guide (1948-1971)

• 1,600,000 Morris Minors were made between 1948 and 1971
• The engine lineup was originally a 918cc ‘Sidevalve’ four-cylinder engine, but later upgraded to the 803cc, 948cc, and 1,098cc ‘A-Series’
• The Minor is 3.7 metres long (148 inches) and has a 2.1-metre (86-inch) wheelbase
• The Minor came as a two- and four-door saloon, two-door convertible, and two-door wood-framed estate, as well as van and pickup commercial vehicles.

The Morris Minor is as British as a Bulldog drinking bitter from a mug with a picture of the Queen Mother on it. Developed as an affordable, but smart-looking, post-war alternative to the likes of the VW Beetle and Ford Popular, it has become a shorthand symbol for genteel living. It was the first British car to reach a million sales (celebrated by a limited edition run of lilac-painted Minors with the ‘Minor 1000’ badge replaced by ‘Minor 1,000,000’) and has gone on to become an ideal starter classic, thanks to its mechanical simplicity and the enormous spare parts and upgrade backup that exists for the car.

Is the Morris Minor a good car?

Pros

• Cheap and easy to maintain
• Plenty of modification and upgrade potential
• Fantastic steering and road-holding

Cons

• All of them are slow, and early models especially so
• Rust is a constant danger
• Traveller estates require specialised wood care

The Morris Minor has become a stalwart of the UK classic car scene over the years, and you can choose from simple two-door or four-door saloon models, a convertible (as made famous on TV by Lovejoy — ask your nan), or a practical wood-framed Traveller estate car.

Owners love the Minor for its sheer simplicity. Although it was originally designed to be a far more sophisticated car with a flat-four engine, late-forties ‘austerity’ budget concerns meant that Morris stuck a simple old 918cc four-cylinder engine into the Minor. Some have described the tiny engine in the huge engine bay as looking like ‘a Corn Flakes box in an aircraft hanger’ but the upside is that you can easily access everything on the engine for maintenance or repairs.

Those old engines had just 27.5hp, and the original ‘MM’ version of the Minor (you can tell it by the low-set headlights and the chintzy chrome radiator grille, also set down low) could only barely break 60mph, and that would be with a fair wind and a slight downslope.

Thankfully, later models got the far more advanced overhead valve ‘A Series’ engine which was also shared with the Mini, the Austin A30 and 1100, and several other models from BMC (British Motor Corporation) cars.

That saw an instant uplift in performance to 30hp, although the top speed remained basically the same. If you want a Minor to crack motorway speeds, you’ll have to go for a later 1,098cc model, which could reach the heady heights of 72mph. You can tell Series II and Series III Minors apart from the early MM version thanks to the more familiar high-set headlights and the simple slatted radiator grille.

All standard Minor versions are very slow by modern standards, although both the steering and the throttle response can make many current cars feel pretty lazy. Still, look at the number of racing drivers — including TV’s Tiff Needell — who cut their teeth racing Minors, and that should tell you all you need to know about the car’s crisp handling and impressive roadholding — a revelation in 1948.

The good news is that Minors are easy and inexpensive to modify. The A Series engine was upgraded to 1,275cc and stayed in production, in the Mini, until 1999, so it’s relatively easy to upgrade a Minor to 96hp and fuel injection. Supercharger kits are also available, as are upgrades to a five-speed gearbox, and even other engines are easy enough to fit — a Fiat Twin-Cam upgrade is a common one. Thankfully, it’s also easy to swap out the Minor’s puny drum brakes for more effective discs.

What to look out for

As with so many classic cars, rust is the enemy here and the Minor’s body is full of rust traps. You’ll need to carefully check all of the underside of the car, and common areas for serious rust damage are the body sills, the suspension pickup points, and the chassis legs, but really you need to check every inch. Boot floors also rust out under the spare wheel, but if you find rust on an exterior body panel that’s less of an issue as these are easy to source and replace.

In fact, pretty much every part and component for the Minor is easy to source and replace, and there are few classic cars which are as well supported as the Minor; the Mini and the MGB are probably the only ones which fare better in terms of spares and support. There are enough reproduction parts available that you could effectively, if expensively, build up a complete new Minor from scratch.

However, there are some tricky areas. Early MM models are now so old that some of the smaller items, especially exterior trim which wasn’t shared with the later Series II and III versions, can be hard to track down. You can find pretty much all of the interior parts for all versions, but even so a full cabin re-trim will be expensive.

The A-Series engine has excellent parts backup, and is easy to repair for a home mechanic, but beware damp getting into the electrical system — it’s best to upgrade to later, more waterproofed, systems. Earlier E-Series 918cc engines are trickier to find parts for.

If you fancy a wood-framed Traveller estate, then remember that the ash wood isn’t just for decoration. It’s actually carrying the whole rear structure of the car, and needs to be cared for to keep rot and weather damage at bay. All the wood frames are available to buy as replacements, but again this won’t be cheap if you need to replace the whole lot.

The Minor’s suspension was quite sophisticated for its time — hence that sharp handling and steering — but the kingpin-based design needs regular inspection and greasing while the rear leaf springs can sag and need replacing.

What is the best one to buy?

It’s probably best not to go for an early 1948-1953 MM Minor unless you’re specifically keen on it, and are prepared to do the legwork when it comes to rarer spare parts. Equally, you’ll have to be happy with a car which doesn’t much like to be driven faster than 45mph.

For those getting into classic cars for the first time, or someone who wants a more useable classic, then it’s best to go for the later Series V Minor, made from 1962 onwards, which got the later, much more powerful, 1,098cc engine, and which gained such mod-cons as flashing indicators (earlier cars had flip-out semaphore-style ‘trafficators’).

This later engine also received an improved gearbox, which is stronger and more robust than the earlier models. Post-1964 versions also came with a heater, which is a definite must (although fairly simple to retro-fit to older versions).

A convertible Minor makes for a hugely enjoyable summer classic, and it’s possible to take an existing two-door saloon and turn it into a convertible, although of course original models are more desirable and worth more money. Meanwhile a Traveller estate makes a surprisingly practical classic car, capable of hauling your family and dogs off for a picnic or a day at the beach (as long as you’re happy to take your time).

Either way, it’s worth tracking down a Minor which has been fitted with an upgraded 1,275cc engine if you want to keep up with modern traffic, and disc brakes for a bit of added safety, although these are easy enough jobs for keen mechanics to do themselves.

Morris Minor price guide

Minors can vary hugely in price depending on the model and year, so you could potentially pay as little as £3,000 for a driveable saloon with the 948cc engine, or as much as £20,000 for a perfectly restored Traveller estate with the 1,098cc engine. Figure on spending around £8,000-10,000 and that should buy you a solid Minor of almost any generation and body shape, but shop around — with 1.6 million made and plenty of survivors, there are lots to choose from.

Most parts are affordable. For instance, a fuel pump for the A-Series engine can cost as little as £100, while a home servicing kit can be as little as £50. A new wiring loom is £200, mostly because the Minor has so few electrical connections. A complete front wing (including the wheelarch and the headlight mount) costs around £270.

History of the Morris Minor

• 1948. Morris Minor MM is introduced at the London Motor Show in Earl’s Court in October. The original price was £358
• 1953. Series II Minor is introduced with revised styling (high headlights, simpler grille) and the A-Series 803cc engine. Traveller estate is also introduced as well as van and pickup
• 1956. Series III Minor. Bigger 948cc A-Series engine is introduced as is the ‘Minor 1000’ badge
• 1961. Minor sales break the one million barrier. 350 limited edition Minor 1,000,000 made, painted in lilac
• 1962. Series V Minor (Series IV was skipped over). 1,098cc A-Series engine is introduced, along with a better gearbox, bigger drum brakes, and flashing indicators
• 1964. Ignition started by key introduced (earlier models had used a key and starter button)
• 1969. Final Minor convertible built
• 1970. Final Minor saloon built
• 1971. Final Minor Traveller, pickup, and van versions built

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