1959 Morris Minor 1000 - Jalopnik Comments

1959 Morris Minor 1000

AbiraHelle — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 17:06:45 EDT

You guys gotta be kidding. These are two of the most solid, reliable cars made between the war and the Nixon Shocks. Anybody who can rebuild a clutch slave can drive either of these cars into the ground and they both have plenty of power to keep up with traffic. If you want to find a REAL masochist, look for the guy trying to make a '77 Lancia Beta or '81 Maserati Biturbo take him to work and back every day! Italian cars really didn't learn to suck til the 70s. I think they learned it from the British. Or vice versa. An bhfuil Gaeilge agat? Go hiontach!

AbiraHelle

1959 Morris Minor 1000

whatwouldjessedo — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 13:58:24 EDT

I'm giving the respect vote to Lancia Driver for this one reason. I'll belive that both cars will give reliable service as long as they remain maintained decently. Alot of the bad rep both Italian and Brit cars is from the lack of maintenance done to them and understanding people had for how to fix them. Hacked wiring, homemade parts, blah...

Anyway, my vote goes to Lancia driver because when it come to replacing a part on one of these cars, I know you can get Morris parts from one of several online sources and they are not horribly expensive. Minimania.com and Moss Motors has anything you could possibly need, and they are both here in California. There is no Lanciamania.com...

whatwouldjessedo

1959 Morris Minor 1000

Collins1990 — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 19:45:19 EDT

What these pictures don't capture is the miniscule widths of the tires. Literally about 4".

Collins1990

1959 Morris Minor 1000

DuraAce — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 16:18:03 EDT

@Ray Wert Jr: eh, my '87 Civic has about 65bhp. on a good day. and a 4-speed. and it'll go 90. also on a good day.

DuraAce

1959 Morris Minor 1000

The Chris in KY — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 14:24:52 EDT

@ryanawesome: Wow...that's wild.

The Chris in KY

1959 Morris Minor 1000

lascauxcaveman — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 13:31:59 EDT

While English electrics are always suspect, there are hardly any electrics in this car, leaving very little to break. The engine is basically yanked straight from a farm tractor, and very sturdy. Just keep it full of oil and don't over-rev it and it'll make it through the day OK.

The Italian commuter is WAY more nuts.

lascauxcaveman

1959 Morris Minor 1000

ryanawesome — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 13:02:09 EDT

how about this minor?

[www.sxoc.co.uk]

ryanawesome

1959 Morris Minor 1000

Wes Siler — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 12:48:10 EDT

My first car!

The electricals aren't really that bad, just don't get them wet. It's the corrosion you need to worry about.

Check out the small hole in the center of the front bumper, if the battery fails you can use a crank to start it.

Mine was eventually written off by a careless driver who rear ended me at a red light. It survived countless teenage abuses, outlasted two engines and had a top speed of 67mph, downhill.

The single best thing about it was 2nd gear. No, not because this was the perfect gear for bald tyre / wet weather oversteer, but because it was located so far to the left and rear as to reach the forbidden part of a female passenger's thigh.

wes

Wes Siler

1959 Morris Minor 1000

biminitwst — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 12:43:05 EDT

The Morris Minor was (is) actually a pretty reliable car. Easy to work on too. I vote for tha Lancia owner as the crazier of the two.
There is a beautiful 1957 woodie versinon in SC with late model Toyota driveline. Sweeet.

biminitwst

1959 Morris Minor 1000

Ben — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 12:03:27 EDT

My grandparents had one of these in England. I remember being completely awed by the turn signals that would actually flip up out of the b-pillars and then start blinking. I've no idea if this one is older or newer, but I can see that it unfortunately does not display the same awesome eccentricity of design.

Ben

1959 Morris Minor 1000

FЯeeMan — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 11:43:56 EDT

While both men must be quite spiritual to rely on those vehicles for daily transportation, I think the nod goes to the Morris owner. He must have PTT direct to the Throne Room to keep the demons of Lucas at bay on a daily bases.

FЯeeMan

1959 Morris Minor 1000

rev.bubba — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 11:41:52 EDT

They are not that insane. I only get a bit less than the stock 17bhp in my 71' Fiat 500L. And I take a 30minute drive to and from work. Atlanta traffic rules.

rev.bubba

1959 Morris Minor 1000

dculberson — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 11:06:43 EDT

The clincher for me is that 1959 to 1966 represented a lot of evolution in the automotive family genes. A '66 makes a lot less insane daily driver than a '59. Coupled with British electricals and I'd have to say the Morris driver's running on a boatload of crazy! (And yes, that's crazy awesome!)

dculberson

1959 Morris Minor 1000

brandegee — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 11:00:59 EDT

The only one of these I've seen in the U.S. was outside an auto shop in Portland, ME. It was the same body type, at least from the doors forward, and it had Austin badges. The British were master badge-engineers so it could have been the same thing. It was definitely a non-runner, but wasn't in much worse condition than this. Which was amazing for a Northeast car.

brandegee

1959 Morris Minor 1000

kaosfere — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 10:54:52 EDT

This series makes me wish I lived in Alameda.

Except for that whole "living in California" thing.

kaosfere

1959 Morris Minor 1000

The Chris in KY — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 10:53:08 EDT

Minor, for sure. The 948 makes it the family man's AH bugeyed sprite.

The Chris in KY

1959 Morris Minor 1000

KingRoyale — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 10:36:58 EDT

The Morris has that British version of a Ford Business Coupe going on - much more commuter and a lot less rally-esque than the Lancia.

KingRoyale

1959 Morris Minor 1000

CafeRacer1200 — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 10:25:33 EDT

I have to give my vote to the Lancia. When it comes to standing by the side of the road, I would MUCH rather try to figure out a fairly simple British car than a "complexity for the sake of complexity" Italian car.

CafeRacer1200

1959 Morris Minor 1000

jrlombard — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 10:17:27 EDT

With the electrical systems in old English cars, the Morris gets my vote just because I'm amazed that it continues to run.

jrlombard

1959 Morris Minor 1000

pjsammy — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 09:54:54 EDT

thats great...that's the closest to a Hindustan Ambassador as you'll find in the states!

(the ambassador is a morris oxford, right?)

pjsammy

1959 Morris Minor 1000

Ray Wert Jr — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 09:42:07 EDT

Less than a 100 pwnies and a daily commuter. What a madman!

Ray Wert Jr

1959 Morris Minor 1000

Paul Y. -- Now With More Sodium! — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 09:29:10 EDT

Can't we call it some sort of automotive-based-mental-illness draw?

Paul Y. -- Now With More Sodium!

1959 Morris Minor 1000

BLS — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 09:26:26 EDT

Atleast the Lancia has 80hp. My vote is for the Minor as the comuter madman.

BLS