Discussion
My parents owned a Morris Minor 1000 in Trafalgar Blue AGX 709G a few years before and the first few years of married life in the 80’s.
A few months before they were due to move home in 1992 some delightful chap pinched it had a joy ride in it and wrecked it mechanically and dented the wings.
Dad removed the engine but it was just too expensive at the time to fund.
They moved house and the Morris was trailered along and spent the next 19 years at the back of the barn often surrounded by the hay stacks for the horses on the livery yard they own and I’d often play in it when it was wheeled out for a day or two.
We then moved again and dad made the decision that it had to be stripped for parts
Off it went his trailer and that was the end of the story..
Until 2 years ago.
I was driving through a local village and spotted an elderly gentleman in a rusty, part restored Trafalgar Blue but with a white bonnet Morris which was AGX709G
I eventually got him to pull over and he told me the story of how he and his mate rescued AGX and over a period of time they rebuilt her to the running but part restoration I was looking at!
His friend passed away and he bought the car from the family vowing to get the car fully restored..I gave him my card and said I want first dibs on sale should it ever happen.
Tuesday 17th November 2020 I get a message from a mate asking if the car he found for sale was our old AGX.. He had only seen a picture of it from the day I spoke to the old gent and recognised it.
Cut a long story short... My wife and I bought back AGX and collected her on Thursday 19th and gifted her back to my parents.... FULLY restored and a the work carried out a credit to the 86 year old gentleman who had helped rescue her..
A few months before they were due to move home in 1992 some delightful chap pinched it had a joy ride in it and wrecked it mechanically and dented the wings.
Dad removed the engine but it was just too expensive at the time to fund.
They moved house and the Morris was trailered along and spent the next 19 years at the back of the barn often surrounded by the hay stacks for the horses on the livery yard they own and I’d often play in it when it was wheeled out for a day or two.
We then moved again and dad made the decision that it had to be stripped for parts
Off it went his trailer and that was the end of the story..
Until 2 years ago.
I was driving through a local village and spotted an elderly gentleman in a rusty, part restored Trafalgar Blue but with a white bonnet Morris which was AGX709G
I eventually got him to pull over and he told me the story of how he and his mate rescued AGX and over a period of time they rebuilt her to the running but part restoration I was looking at!
His friend passed away and he bought the car from the family vowing to get the car fully restored..I gave him my card and said I want first dibs on sale should it ever happen.
Tuesday 17th November 2020 I get a message from a mate asking if the car he found for sale was our old AGX.. He had only seen a picture of it from the day I spoke to the old gent and recognised it.
Cut a long story short... My wife and I bought back AGX and collected her on Thursday 19th and gifted her back to my parents.... FULLY restored and a the work carried out a credit to the 86 year old gentleman who had helped rescue her..
Edited by HJe28 on Saturday 21st November 19:54
Great story. I've had 3 x Morris Minors over the years. I even put a 1275 cc MG Midget engine in one in 1995 when the engine seized. 90 mph with no seatbelts. 
I still browse for them now and again. They haven't gone too crazy, the prices since they're not rare. There's 10k of them around somewhere!
I still browse for them now and again. They haven't gone too crazy, the prices since they're not rare. There's 10k of them around somewhere!
Old Merc said:
What a delightful story HJe28, well done.
My parents took delivery of a new Morris 1000 in 1960.
A while ago I tried to find it, DVLA tells me its registration number WRD 98 is now on a 1971 Jaguar, so I presume its been scrapped long ago.?
Great to have it back in the family My parents took delivery of a new Morris 1000 in 1960.
A while ago I tried to find it, DVLA tells me its registration number WRD 98 is now on a 1971 Jaguar, so I presume its been scrapped long ago.?
My dad bought a new Dove grey Minor in 1962, the reg, 6668 UK is now on an Audi so presumably it was scrapped as well. The Audi is, unsurprisingly, grey as well!
john2443 said:
Old Merc said:
What a delightful story HJe28, well done.
My parents took delivery of a new Morris 1000 in 1960.
A while ago I tried to find it, DVLA tells me its registration number WRD 98 is now on a 1971 Jaguar, so I presume its been scrapped long ago.?
Great to have it back in the family My parents took delivery of a new Morris 1000 in 1960.
A while ago I tried to find it, DVLA tells me its registration number WRD 98 is now on a 1971 Jaguar, so I presume its been scrapped long ago.?
My dad bought a new Dove grey Minor in 1962, the reg, 6668 UK is now on an Audi so presumably it was scrapped as well. The Audi is, unsurprisingly, grey as well!
CAPP0 said:
And they let a young Jeremy Clarkson have a go in it?
lolMy mum used to have a Traveller. I remember being taken to Primary School in it for years and bloody hated every second. Remember sitting on the bench seat in the back and hiding down so the other kids wouldn't see me arriving or leaving. Looking back I think what the f*ck was I worrying about it. Should've embraced it. Actually a very cool thing in hindsight.
RM sold one in 2017 for £37k!! Madness. https://www.theclassicvaluer.com/results/1958/morr...
Old Merc said:
Is there a way to find out if our two M 1000`s were definitely scrapped ? You never know they could be still alive with a different reg` number. Highly unlikely though.
I don't think so, if the transfer was done pre DVLA the records have probably been binned, if it was during DVLA they might know, but are unlikely to tell us!Gassing Station | Classic Cars and Yesterday's Heroes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff