After driving to a local dealer in Bedhampton, they told me they were full up of cars and weren't interested. So I drove a little further to another dealer in Fareham, who'd said on the phone they were interested. I arrived and was dealt with by a nice chap called Russel, who gave the car a brief test drive and had a look round. He told me that the aftermarket alloy wheels didn't go down well with him, and he would have preferred the original Suzuki alloys. Well he would, being a Suzuki dealer. We went inside to his office, and the haggling began. I told him that I had been offered £3600 by the trade dealer, which I thought was a good move on my part, as it gave us a higher starting point. Higher by £50. I told him that £3650 was simply not enough. Russel was an expert salesman. I had never sold a car before in my life. I stuck to my guns however, and after a couple of "tell you whats" we shook on £3750, which I was assured was a "top drawer dealer price". I don't know how true that was but it made me feel better.
Russel told me that he'd need a week to sort out paperwork and things and to pop back next Friday. Now knowing exactly what my budget was, and when I would have the cash, I could now go and see a car that I actually wanted to buy.
Six days later, I found this:
Before you marvel at the ridiculously cheap price, I should explain that the tax disc is covering up the 5 at the end of the price. The first thing that struck me was that the colour wasn't my first choice. However, apart from the colour, it ticked all the boxes. It was a 2-door saloon, with the later engine and gearbox, flashing indicators, both wing mirrors fitted (not present on all Moggies), and the bodyshell was completely solid. It was even from my preferred year, 1967. The price of £3295 was quite high for a Minor 1000, but as you can probably tell by the other classics in the background, the car was being sold by a specialist classic car dealer, so I reasoned they'd know their stuff, and wouldn't give the car such a high price if it didn't warrant it. Besides, I reckoned there was plenty of room for haggling. This car was definitely worth a look.
I rang the dealer, who are called Sussex Classics by the way, and spoke to a very nice chap called Stewart, who was very helpful and told me lots about the car on the phone, and seemed to be very honest. I told him I'd like to come and see it that afternoon, which he said was no problem at all. I got in the Swift for its last great road trip, and drove a long way up to Sussex to the village of Crawley Down, just outside Gatwick airport, which Sussex Classics is based. I pulled up on their tiny forecourt, where the Minor was waiting for me. A man came out to greet me, and introduced himself as Sean. Sean is the place's mechanic, and as far as I can tell he and Stewart run the place together. Sean was incredibly helpful and friendly about the car, and answered all my questions very honestly.
The first thing I noticed about the car when I opened the door was how different the interior was from the Series II I drove a few weeks before. Gone was the red leather on the seats, which was replaced by green vinyl to match the paint. The vinyl is actually very good quality and holds its colour much better than the leather does. The seats had also been rebuilt at some point so they looked very healthy. The dashboard was different too, with a curvy lid now covering the passenger side glovebox, with the driver side one left open (yes, there are two gloveboxes; stick that in your 5 series, ha!). The speedo was no longer cream coloured with old numbers so it looked like a grandfather clock, but instead was a stylish black with white blocky numbers. True 60s styling. It was also surrounded by a chromed metal panel which also contained the switches, giving the dashboard a bit of sparkle. The switches themselves had also been updated to be a bit easier to use. Gone also was the pull start of the Series II. The Minor 1000 has a plain old turn key start. The steering wheel had also been changed. The white, metal tri-spoked and brass wheel had been replaced by a black plastic two-spoke wheel, with a plastic "M" horn button. I could also see that the gear lever was a lot shorter in this car. The old Series II gear lever connects to very near the front of the gearbox, so it has to be very long to stretch back towards the driver. However, in the Minor 1000 it connects towards the back of the gearbox, much nearer the driver, so it doesn't have to be nearly as long.
After looking the car over with Sean, I got the keys off him and took it for a drive around the block. He'd warmed it up for me, so it fired right up. Turning out of the forecourt, I was so relieved to have proper indicators, operated by a stalk. Granted, the stalk was on the opposite side of the steering column to that of the Swift, so it would take some getting used to, but at least it was a stalk, that you pushed up and down, in easy reach of your hands. The indicators don't self cancel, but when one is switched on, there is an audible clicking sound as it flashes, and a bright green light on the end of the indicator stalk flashes at you. This is both extremely cool, and makes it impossible to forget the indicator is on. As far as the actual driving went, it was just like the Series II, but better. I found the driving position a bit better, and due to me wearing comfy trainers, pushing the pedals was much easier. Seeing out of the front was a bit easier thanks to the new curved one-piece windscreen, and seeing out of the back was also easier thanks to a much larger rear view mirror, and a larger back window. But best by far was the performance. Once I got out onto the main road, I shifted into second and buried the throttle. Doing this in the Series II caused you to gently accelerate. However, when I tried it in the 1000, I actually saw the front of the car rear up as we accelerated. I still wouldn't call it fast, by any measure, but it has some grunt to it now; it wants to go. Even in a 5 minute test drive, I could see how much better this Minor was to drive. I definitely wanted one.
As I got out back at the shop, Sean said to me "You're smiling James." Now that he mentioned it, I had been grinning from ear to ear like a loon. "It's a lovely car. Brilliant." I said to him. "It is a good one." he agreed "But are you going to buy it?". Well that's the £3295 question isn't it? It took me five seconds of consideration to come up with an answer. I hadn't looked at any other Minor 1000s; there might be a better one out there. But better how? This one was solid as a rock, had all the bells and whistles working on it, and ran like an absolute dream. "Yes, yes I will." I told Sean.
I decided not to waste his time, and told him flatly I wouldn't pay a penny over £3000 for it. He didn't waste my time and told me that that would be fine. We went inside to have a look through the service history, which there unfortunately wasn't that much of. It only goes back to 1988. We discovered a few interesting things. The car had had a full engine rebuild in 1988, and a reconditioned gearbox in 1989, as well as 4 new wings, which was only around 20000 miles ago. The car had also been professionally valued in 1997 at £2000 (which, incidentally, is about £2950 now). We also discovered the car had spent a few years abroad in Holland in the early 00s, before being repatriated. I then explained the situation of the Swift to Sean, and said I could not pay for it immediately. He said that was fine as long as I laid down a deposit of £100, which I gladly did. He also told me that before I came to pay for the rest of the car, he would look it over and correct anything that wasn't working, and also sort out the exhaust pipe, as it was banging against the body where it exited the engine bay, all free of charge. What a guy! It's nice to see a mechanic who takes pride in his work and won't see a car leave his shop that isn't as good as he could make it.
We agreed that I'd pick the car up in a week's time, and I drove home to a week of eager waiting.
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