Genesis-grade Morris Minor Million for sale

These days there's a special edition for anything - here's where it all begins

Barely a day passes now without another special edition of some description being launched. It’s part and parcel of the car world: a new feature, new paint or new equipment can be introduced with some fanfare, by bringing people’s attention to it rather than just quietly added. Or the buying public can be reminded of a model in its final months on sale with a loaded-to-the-gunwales final edition.

You’ll have some favourites from years gone by, and no doubt one or two sit in PHer garages, but what you’re looking at here is reckoned to be Britain’s first special edition. Yes, it’s a Morris Minor; the important bit is that it’s a Morris Minor Million, a 350-unit special commissioned to mark the 1,000,000th version being built. It was quite the milestone for 1961, and deserved celebrating: there were a million Minors before there were a million 2CVs, so there. While we all tend to think of Minis, Land Rovers and E-Types as the classic British icons, the Minor deserves recognition as well.

The story of the Millie could hardly be more British. There was meant to be a Million at the 1960 British motor show, but strikes delayed its build from December to January 1961. The high-ups wanted gold or silver paint - the paint shop said it wasn’t possible. So management was asked to choose from the standard BMC palette, only for that lunch to turn so boozy that they never reached a decision. Ultimately the purple was chosen by a chap called Jack Field, who worked in sales for parent Nuffield Organisation. The badges were made by using two ‘1000’ badges normally seen on the boot and removing a ‘1’. Incredible.

A lilac that probably didn’t stand out too much when colourful cars were more common looks absolutely fantastic 60-odd years later. Ask for this on your Porsche 911 and the club meet will be beside itself (and it will cost a fortune). But this is how all 350 Millions (sorry if that’s confusing!) left the factory, with the chrome wheel accents and ‘white gold’ ivory leather as well. It’s like a little piece of wheeled confectionery.

Clearly there aren’t many Minors left at all, let alone the special edition. In total 1,619,958 Minors were made, and goodness knows how many have been crashed, scrapped or rotted away in the half a century (and a bit) since. So while this one might not be usual PH fare, it is a really interesting find. And there’s something so charming about a car so unpretentious and so basic, one where the speedo only goes to 80mph and the indicators pop out of the wings. You’re never going to be in a hurry in a Minor, because you can’t go fast. You won’t get cross at equipment not working, because there isn’t any. And every shop window will make you beam with pride. It must be hard to be glum with a Minor Million in your life.

This one was restored by the Morris Minor Centre in 2017, with additional recommissioning work in 2024 that included a gearbox rebuild, new fuel pump and carb refresh. While we can’t pretend to know much about these sweet little things, it does look good enough to eat, paint and upholstery in really good order. Furthermore, look at that engine bay - it’ll be like working on an aerofix kit in an opera hall. But less complicated. The asking price is £30k, which, as expected, is top dollar for a Minor. But it’s worth bearing in mind that restored and rare Minis can command anything up to £50k. And they probably won’t bring quite as much joy as a mint condition Million. It could be the perfect classic to sit alongside a contemporary Black, Motorsport, Final or Design Edition that’s also on the drive…

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