A month ago I took my Minor for its MOT. It was the first time I'd ever MOT'd a classic car, and it didn't go quite as smoothly as I'd hoped.
I have put a car through an MOT before though, so before I prattle on about how my car fared in the MOT station, I have some advice about taking a classic car for an MOT or service at a garage. This also applies at a lesser extent to cars in general. Here are the tips I have learned along the way:
1. When choosing a garage, use this website:
http://www.goodgaragescheme.co.uk/
The Good Garage Scheme does exactly what it says on the tin; it is a list of trustworthy car garages that you can use to find a local garage that (hopefully) won't rip you off and will do a good job. Garages that are part of the scheme have to adhere to a strict code of conduct from the scheme, who will also conduct random investigations to make sure they behave. Customers can also rate them independently on the website. This website is indispensable when looking for an independent garage.
2. Choose a garage that prices by the job, not by the hour. This is not always easy to do or even possible, depending on where you live, but if you can do so, it can potentially save you a lot of money, and also speaks volumes about the garage's reputation. With a garage that prices by the job, they will discuss the price of the repair with you beforehand, and make an agreement with you. It then doesn't matter if the job takes 1 hour, 3 hours, or a day; the price will stay the same. Garages that price by the hour sometimes try and lure you in with low hourly rates, but they can end up deliberately wasting hours of time on a job and charging you for the privilege. This is not to say that all garages that price by the hour are unscrupulous or dishonest, but it's better to be safe than sorry.
3. Make sure the mechanics know that you know your car. Or, at least, if you don't know your car that well, make them think that you do. If they think that you are knowledgeable about your car, they are far less likely to try and take advantage of you, and this can save money. Furthermore, if you suggest that, once problems arise, you are prepared to go home and fix them yourself, you might find the price they offer for the garage to do the repair is rather less than you were expecting. If you do the repair yourself, obviously the garage makes no money from that, so it is therefore in their interests to persuade you to pay them to do the repair; bringing the price of the work down is the obvious thing to do.
4. Make the mechanic's job easier. If there is something wrong with your car, and you take it in to get it fixed, try and gather as much information about the problem as possible, so that when you arrive at the garage, you can tell the mechanic straight away what the problem is, which will save him/her spending valuable time trying to diagnose the problem for themselves. This is something they will definitely appreciate, and it also contributes to the impression that you know the insides of your car. Another point; if your car needs replacement parts (such as mine did) it is very unlikely that the garage will have them in stock, unless it is something generic like tyres or wiper blades. If you've brought in a classic car, the problem is greater, as the mechanics will not have the faintest idea where parts can be purchased from, or even if they are available. So, offer to buy the parts and bring them in yourself, and be as quick as you can about it. They will appreciate you doing the legwork for them, and it will also stop them charging a markup on the price of the parts.
Now that I've passed on my wisdom regarding garages, here's how my car got on with its MOT.
My car only had one major problem that I knew would have to be fixed for it to pass; the exhaust leak. I've posted about it before being fixed, but it just kept coming back, so I decided to turn it over to the professionals. The garage carried out the MOT first so that any and all problems that arose afterwards. Aside from the obvious blow in the exhaust, the mechanic also found a split in the driver's side steering rack boot; this is a round tube of stretchy, accordion-like rubber that slips over the end of the steering rack and stops the oil inside leaking out. A split in one could potentially compromise the operation of the steering, and is therefore a failure in an MOT. At first it looked like the boot would have to be changed, the procedure for which is doable at home, provided you have sufficient time and the right tools, which I, unfortunately, did not have. The garage would have charged £20 for this, plus another £5 for me to buy the replacement boot. Later, when the car was put up on a lift and the mechanic was able to inspect the boot from below, he was able to repair the split using some industrial sealant; only charged me £5. Splendid.
However, my good luck ran out after that. When the mechanic attempted to repair the leaking exhaust, he discovered that there was now a split in the top of the exhaust pipe, meaning that attempting to repair the leak was futile. Because the exhaust pipe on a Minor is a one-piece system, I now had to replace the whole pipe. Modern cars have their exhaust systems divided into two or three separate pieces. This not only makes they easier to transport, but if a split or damage occurs on the pipe, only that section has to be replaced, not the whole thing.
I could have bought another standard, mild steel exhaust system like the one on the car; only about £40 brand new. However, having seen the lack of quality of my current mild steel exhaust, I was not really keen on replacing like for like. I actually have the receipt for the old exhaust in my service history. It was fitted in 2000. 12 years is a semi-reasonable lifespan for an exhaust, particularly on a car which did not cover a great deal of miles in that time. However, I wanted something better.
I had a look through some Morris Minor parts stores online, and I found that you can also buy a stainless steel exhaust system. This costs just over £100, well over twice the price of the mild steel system, however:
1. It is made out of a thicker gauge of steel than the mild system, so is therefore tougher.
2. Stainless steel does not rust, at all.
3. It has a slightly different shaped bend in the downpipe near the front of the exhaust, which allows it to clear the bulkhead of the car much more easily; no more pesky knocking.
4. The store I bought it from offer a lifetime guarantee on the system, meaning that if it does break during normal use, I will get a replacement for free.
After ordering in the stainless exhaust, I took it to the garage to have it fitted, and my MOT was then issued. I accrued four advisories:
1. Engine oil leak (well, naturally)
2. Tyres slightly worn (but still with plenty of miles on them; don't know why this was listed to be honest)
3. Front suspension bushes slightly perished (news to me)
4. Slight patches of corrosion on the underside of the car (You don't say?)
At some point I shall buy some new suspension bushes and fit them, along with some new steering rack boots on both sides to stop the same problem cropping up again at the next MOT. However, I am pleased with my shiny new exhaust, and even more pleased that my car is now on the road for another year with very little in the way of advisories.
Friday 30 November 2012
Friday 23 November 2012
So, what's it like to drive?
Before I get started on what it's like to drive a Morris Minor in 21st century British traffic, it's important to put it into context, chronologically.
The Minor was designed in the early and mid 1940s, and at launch in 1948 was incredibly advanced for the time. However, it was made up until 1971. It did undergo three very important upgrade phases throughout its production life, as well as many other smaller adjustments here and there. Fundamentally, however, it still remained very much a car of early 1950s standard. That means when my particular car rolled off the production line in 1967, it was already a decade or so out of date. To put this into a more modern perspective, this would be the same as Vauxhall still selling the old Nova today, as a brand new car. Was this down to the Minor's excellence as a piece of design, or due to the British Motor Corporation's lack of ingenuity and new models? I choose to believe it was a bit of both.
You would probably imagine then, that such a car would be hopelessly out of its depth in 21st century British traffic, where even a basic hatchback can top 100mph and the average saloon can push on past 120mph. However, you'd be (mostly) wrong. It would be churlish of me to suggest that the Minor is unfazed by modern traffic, because that's simply not true. However, if you're willing to have a bit of patience and adjust your driving style to the car, you can manage very well indeed.
Getting going in the first place is a bit more involving than your average modern car. First of all, you produce your keys. On my keyring, I've got a brass key that unlocks the doors and turns on the ignition, a large steel key that unlocks the fuel cap, and a strange looking key that unlocks the Stoplock that I've clipped onto the steering wheel. Of course, you can have your Minor without a Stoplock, or a locking fuel cap, in which case you'll only have one key, but both of these are welcome additions to my car. I'm also fortunate in that my car has never had new doors and that it has never been forcibly broken into. If your car's had its locks screwdrivered by a thief at some point, or it's had new doors fitted and the mechanic didn't change the locks over, you'll have separate lock and ignition keys.
You put the key in the door and turn the lock. No fancy remote central locking system here; just good old fashioned lock and key action. If you want the passenger door or the boot open as well, you'll need to use the key on them separately, or unlock them from the inside. If you've got a four-door, then you've got even more unlocking to do.
It's worth mentioning at this point that the Minor has little in the way of security. There's no alarm and no built-in steering wheel lock. All you have is the door locks. It's possible to break into a Minor, without causing any damage at all, with a long screwdriver; trust me, I've done it (at least I got my keys back without having to phone the AA). I haven't tried hot-wiring my car, but I'm sure it wouldn't prove a challenge to even a novice thief. That's why I have a Stoplock. It means that the car can't be driven in anything but a straight line, and it only takes a few seconds to fasten and take off with the key. They are proven to deter amateur and opportunist car thieves and I thoroughly recommend them. There are also devices that fasten around the clutch pedal of the car, meaning it can't be depressed, so the car can't be driven at all.
Next, you climb into the driver's seat, which is quite easy, even for a 6ft 5" person like me, and shut the door. The doors need a bit more oomph to close properly than those of a modern car, but you get used to it. After removing the Stoplock, you stick the key in the ignition, located in the centre of the dashboard, not on the steering column. Starting the Minor, even on a cold day, is pretty easy, thanks to the manual choke. You pull it out a couple of inches, and then turn the key. Providing your battery is healthy, it should fire up in a couple of seconds. Then you can use the choke to bring the revs down to a good idling speed.
Now, before we move off, I must touch upon a very important subject; safety. If you're lucky like me, and have a Minor to which a previous owner has fitted three-point inertia reel seat belts, strap in. If your car is unmodified in the seat belt department, but was made in or later than 1967, you'll have very basic, non-inertia reel belts that were the minimum legal requirements back then. The back seats have no seat belts at all. If your car was made before 1967, it will not have any seat belts on any of the seats. I would strongly recommend that you have three-point inertia reel belts fitted to your Minor if it hasn't got them, especially if, like me, you plan on using it as your primary car. Throughout the years there have been many innovations in safety, but the one that consistently saves the most lives in most situations is the seat belt, so get some. That said, the Minor still lacks all other modern safety features. There are no crumple zones, airbags or side impact protection systems. The steering column isn't collapsible, something which we've taken for granted on cars since at least the early 80s. This means that in a head-on crash, the steering wheel will do quite a nasty injury to your ribcage, instead of falling away like a collapsible one would. The seats do not have headrests, so if someone rear-ends you particularly violently, you'll probably get whiplash.
It is safety concerns like this that cause a lot of people to steer clear of classic cars they otherwise like, and I can understand that. However, it is important to remember one of the most basic rules of driving safety; staying safe on the road is about avoiding accidents in the first place, not surviving them when they happen, and this is where I believe the Minor actually has an advantage. Because it's not that fast, because the brakes are not that good, and because there are no driver aids to help you, your driving style adjusts, and you become a lot more cautious. If you're a sensible driver, you'll be actively trying to be careful anyway. A line my parents trot out a lot, however, is that no matter how carefully I drive, I still have no control over the actions of other drivers, and that they could still endanger me. This is somewhat true, but by being aware of the road and cars around you, you can do your best to stay out of their way. Unless you encounter a psychopath who's determined to crash into every car he can find, you should be fine so long as you keep your wits about you.
Anyway, back to the driving experience. Once you've got the engine going, and you have (or haven't) strapped in your seatbelt, you're ready to set off. The clutch pedal hinges from the floor, so the action of pushing it feels a bit strange compared to other cars, where it usually hinges from a pedal box underneath the dashboard. What's more, you'll notice that the clutch is a lot heavier than in a modern car. This is because the clutch is operated by a cable, as opposed to the hydraulic system found in most modern cars. Although this requires a lot more effort to disengage the clutch, the system is much simpler and requires little maintenance, if any. But once the clutch is down, you can't just shift into first gear, no sir. You have to wait a few seconds for the gearbox to stop spinning, then select first. This is because first gear does not have any synchromesh on it. To cut a long and technical story short, this basically means you can't shift into first while the car is moving or there is motion in the gearbox, otherwise the gearbox will graunch horribly. However, since you only use first gear for moving off from stationary or ascending particularly steep hills, it's not too much of a bother, but more on that later. The other three gears have synchromesh, so you can shift into them any time without graunching. The gear pattern itself is as you'd find on most modern cars; first at top left, second at bottom left, third at top centre, fourth at bottom centre, and reverse at bottom right, with a blank spot at top right where fifth would be.
Once you're in gear, give it a bit of gas with the accelerator, and let the clutch up. The biting point of the clutch is quite low on the pedal's travel, and is unfortunately quite vague, probably due to the cable system. This will probably vary based on the condition of the clutch disc and the cable system. It is quite easy to forget where the biting point is after a few days of not driving the car, but after a minute or two you'll get into the swing of it.
As you move out onto the road, the first thing you'll notice is that first gear whines very loudly due to the lack of synchromesh. Then you'll go for a gear change. The throw, that is, the distance the top of the gear lever has to travel to change gears, is vast by modern standards. Most small cars nowadays have a 3-5 inch throw. The throw on the Minor gearbox is a good 10 inches, so snappy gear changes are out, and if you try to rush the gearbox the synchromeshes will probably complain at you. However, the huge throw is very reassuring, and it really feels like you've changed gears. It's fun too; moving the huge lever around makes you smile as it clunks into position, and really makes you feel like you're putting more effort into driving the car, which you are. You'll move through the gears quite quickly. If you're keeping the revs low, second will take you to about 13mph, and third to 25mph. Fourth is your final gear, which will take you all the way up to your top speed of 78mph. However, for pootling around town, where you seldom exceed 30mph, the Moggy will do just fine.
Once you're on the road and have got some speed up, you'll instinctively check your mirrors and instrumentation. The rear view mirror is great. It's nice and large like a modern mirror, and show's what's behind you nicely. The wing mirrors, however, are a slightly different story. This is partly because, in some cases, there won't be any. Wing mirrors were not seen as compulsory items in the Minor's day, so a lot of cars were sold without them. However, most owners have fitted them to their cars themselves, as they add to the chrome factor. Door mirrors are also available but despite their convenience they remain less popular, due to the fact they often interfere with the quarterlight. My car has been fitted with wing mirrors, but they are of limited usefulness. The one on the driver's side does show what's behind me down the right flank, but because the mirror is small, quite a long way down the car, and not slightly convex like it would be on a modern car, the view it gives is very narrow, although having it on the wing instead of the door does put it closer to the driver's field of vision. The passenger side wing mirror is useless. This is because it points towards the ground, and does not have any vertical adjustment, so all you'll see is the gutter racing past. It is useful for parallel parking however. To adjust the mirror's horizontal positioning, you need to use a spanner, which means adjusting them correctly is the work of two people, or a very lucky guess.
You then glance at your speedo, which by now you've noticed is in the centre of the dashboard. It shows your speed up to 90mph (some also have it in kph), and has a simple fuel gauge at the bottom. Within the dial there are four lights to tell you whether the ignition is on/battery is discharging, whether your full beams are on, whether the engine has enough oil pressure, and if the oil filter needs replacing. That's it. There's no tachometer, temperature gauge, oil pressure gauge, trip counter or MPG readout. Just the basics.
Along the road, you need to take a turn. First of course, you indicate. The Minor 1000 has flashing indicators just like a modern car, and the stalk is on the right side of the steering column. When you flick it up or down to indicate the tip of it will flash a bright green light, and you will hear the flasher unit clicking on and off. The indicators do not self cancel, but this is bonus to me as I found the self cancelling sort often think they know better where you're going than you do.
Next, you'll brake for the corner. In my opinion, it is the brakes of a Morris Minor that will most startle a driver fresh from the world of modern cars. The Minor has simple, unassisted drum brakes. These differ greatly from the disc brakes of a modern car, which are much more effective, and do not suffer from brake fade (at least, not in normal road use). Modern cars are also equipped with brake servos. These are devices that mechanically augment the force you are applying to the brake pedal, making the brakes lighter and sharper. However, the Minor is a good quarter ton lighter than even the most basic modern hatchback, and will be half a ton lighter than the average saloon, meaning there is a lot less dead weight to slow down. This means that the drum brakes do actually work reasonably well, providing the system is in good condition. You do have to really step on the pedal though, not just lightly push it as you might do in a modern car.
As you take the corner, you'll notice the steering. This is one of the Minor's best features. The steering uses a rack and pinion mechanism to direct the front wheels, as a lot of cars now still do. This may seem like a pretty mundane and simple feature, but at the time it was a quantum leap forward in car handling. It means the steering in a Minor, although unassisted, is light, but extremely precise and pointable, helped in part by the independent front suspension.
After pootling about in town for a while, let's say you wish to take a trip along the motorway. Once you leave the slip road and join the motorway, you'll push up past 50 and 60mph. The noise at this point will probably be fairly loud; not deafening, but somewhat noisier than a modern hatchback might be. This is mostlt because 4th gear will run the engine at higher revs than 5th gear would, which you of course, do not have. It's also due to the fairly minimal in the cabin. On most cars, you'll get a slab of it under the carpets, and probably nothing else. Then there is the issue of speed to contend with. In my 1098cc car, speeds in excess of 75 mph are attainable, eventually. However, I find it much more agreeable to cruise around 60mph. It is possible to cruise at 70mph, but this of course puts much more strain on the running gear (my gearbox bearings sometimes complain at me at these speeds) as well as using up considerably more fuel. At 60mph, the car runs very happily and should return quite a reasonable MPG; I calculated 41mpg on one trip. However, your cruising and maximum speeds will depend quite a lot on the general condition of your engine, gearbox, axles, tyres, as well of course the engine's capacity. The 948cc engine is almost as powerful as the 1098cc engine, and is quite capable of keeping up a 60mph cruising speed. The 803cc engine has rather less power than the 948cc, and cruising speeds of between 50-55mph seem to be the norm for those engines. The 918cc sidevalve engine has a slightly higher top speed than the 803cc engine, but suffers from slower acceleration. Cars with the sidevalve engine are very rare though, so it's unlikely you'd use one regularly.
Of course, a cruising speed of 60mph will relegate you almost permanently to the outside lane, which is fine, until you meet a lorry in front that is going 55mph, and you have to overtake. Cars will be whizzing by in the middle lane often in excess of 80mph, so you must be careful. The wing mirror, as I mentioned previously, is of limited usefulness, so you'll be checking over your shoulder a fair bit before you pull out. Foot to the floor, and you'll slowly creep past the lorry, and probably build up a couple of cars behind you. Where possible, time your overtakes on a downhill stretch of road, so gravity will assist you.
Unfortunately, whilst you're driving, it has started to rain, so you switch on the wipers. Modern cars have variable speeds you can set the wipers to; usually Intermittent, On, and Fast are the three you can choose from. In the Minor, there are no speeds; on or off are your choices. However, the speed they have is a good speed, and should see you alright. I have heard from others that the wipers are only good in light to medium rain. In my opinion, this is untrue. I once drove my car at about 50mph along a motorway through absolutely torrential rain, and the wipers still allowed me to see where I was going. The only real problem with the wipers is at the other end of the rain scale, when there is only light spitting drizzle. The wipers will wipe away the tiny drops of rain too quickly, and will start to squeak against the glass, so you will have to manually turn the wipers on and off constantly until the rain gets heavier or stops.
What about if your windscreen gets dirty? My advice is, stop at a service station and clean it with their hose. The windscreen washer is a manual pump that you push with your thumb; basically a water-pistol aimed at your windscreen. The little jets of water it delivers are pathetic, and will probably just smear the dirt around rather than wash it off. They also have a nasty habit of getting airlocked and refusing to work at all.
What about if you need to travel at night? My car has standard sealed beam headlights, although upgrades to halogen headlights are very common. However, I find the sealed beam headlights to be perfectly fine. The peripheral light is not as good as a modern car, the light doesn't reach quite as far, and they are a bit low in their dipped setting, but on full beams they are absolutely fine.
Comfort? Well, for cold days, there is a heater. Actually, the term "heater" is a bit of a misnomer, as the device itself does not actually heat the air. It's just an electric fan that blows air into the car. This is useful in traffic jams when you are hardly moving, or not at all, but above 25mph the air will be blown through the car by itself far more effectively. The actual temperature of the air coming through the heater is controlled by a valve underneath the dashboard. Push it all the way in, and hot water from the engine will run through the heater, warming up the air as it passes through. Pull the valve all the way out, and the flow of water is shut off, providing no heat to the air. Once the engine is up to temperature, it can heat up the air coming into the car quite considerably. The heater panel allows you to shut off the flow of air, direct it at the windscreen through two vents in the dashboard, or vent it entirely into the car. However, I find the demisting function of the heater rather unhelpful, as it will actually steam up the windscreen before gradually clearing it again, so you will need to remain stationary while this happens. I choose instead to have a flow of cold air into the car, thus keeping an equilibrium of temperature between the air and the glass, thus preventing any steaming from occurring. Unfortunately, the rear window will steam up on damp days, or cold days when you are carrying passengers (all that hot breath). The only reliable way I have found of demisting it is to drive with your window down, allowing fresh air to reach the back of the car. A coat is therefore advised. The Minor is definitely more suited to warmer weather. There is no air conditioning of course, so if it is a boiling hot summers day you may get a bit sweaty. Fortunately, those days are somewhat rare in England. On warm days you'll be fine just rolling down a window or opening a quarterlight.
As far as seating goes, you may be pleasantly surprised. You get stylish 1960s vinyl seats; two in the front, and a bench seat in the back that is nominally for two people, but due to there being no seatbelts back there, you could, in theory, cram in as many people as will fit. I am 6ft 5, and I can fit into the driver's seat with no problems at all. This is not because the Minor is a big car; it isn't. It's because the interior is not crammed full of bulky plastic trim, so there is plenty of room for your limbs. The seats themselves are actually quite comfortable, and perfectly bearable on all but very long journeys. Rear legroom is somewhat limited, and although the driver's seat can be slide forward a bit, it won't help a great deal.
What about for moving things? The boot on the saloon and convertible cars is not exactly cavernous, but should be ok for day to day things. A reasonable amount of shopping can be fitted in there, or a couple of reasonably sized suitcases. One thing I do like about the boot is that it is dual layered. There is a gap between the floor of the car and the floor of the boot, above which luggage rides. About half this gap is taken up by the spare wheel, but the other half is a great place to keep tools and a box of spare parts.
I should stress, however, that if you plan on moving a lot of things around in your Minor, a traveller model would probably be more suitable, perhaps even a van.
I have waffled quite a bit now, but I believe I've covered all the essentials. To sum up, the Morris Minor 1000 is good, fun little car to drive. It copes well with city traffic, and motorways are fine too as long as you take your time and keep your wits about you. It is quite a departure from modern motoring, but it's very easy to cope with. I find it is its most fun when you get onto a country lane and get your foot down; it becomes a real roller coaster ride.
I should mention that I can only speak for cars like mine; that is, post-1963 2-door saloons, since that is the only sort of Morris Minor I have ever owned. I chose it because it is the latest and best equipped version of the car. If you buy an earlier car, you will have different features to mine, unless they have been retrofitted. I will cover the differences in detail in another article.
However, this post should give you a good indication of what it is like to drive a Morris Minor every day.
You put the key in the door and turn the lock. No fancy remote central locking system here; just good old fashioned lock and key action. If you want the passenger door or the boot open as well, you'll need to use the key on them separately, or unlock them from the inside. If you've got a four-door, then you've got even more unlocking to do.
It's worth mentioning at this point that the Minor has little in the way of security. There's no alarm and no built-in steering wheel lock. All you have is the door locks. It's possible to break into a Minor, without causing any damage at all, with a long screwdriver; trust me, I've done it (at least I got my keys back without having to phone the AA). I haven't tried hot-wiring my car, but I'm sure it wouldn't prove a challenge to even a novice thief. That's why I have a Stoplock. It means that the car can't be driven in anything but a straight line, and it only takes a few seconds to fasten and take off with the key. They are proven to deter amateur and opportunist car thieves and I thoroughly recommend them. There are also devices that fasten around the clutch pedal of the car, meaning it can't be depressed, so the car can't be driven at all.
Next, you climb into the driver's seat, which is quite easy, even for a 6ft 5" person like me, and shut the door. The doors need a bit more oomph to close properly than those of a modern car, but you get used to it. After removing the Stoplock, you stick the key in the ignition, located in the centre of the dashboard, not on the steering column. Starting the Minor, even on a cold day, is pretty easy, thanks to the manual choke. You pull it out a couple of inches, and then turn the key. Providing your battery is healthy, it should fire up in a couple of seconds. Then you can use the choke to bring the revs down to a good idling speed.
Now, before we move off, I must touch upon a very important subject; safety. If you're lucky like me, and have a Minor to which a previous owner has fitted three-point inertia reel seat belts, strap in. If your car is unmodified in the seat belt department, but was made in or later than 1967, you'll have very basic, non-inertia reel belts that were the minimum legal requirements back then. The back seats have no seat belts at all. If your car was made before 1967, it will not have any seat belts on any of the seats. I would strongly recommend that you have three-point inertia reel belts fitted to your Minor if it hasn't got them, especially if, like me, you plan on using it as your primary car. Throughout the years there have been many innovations in safety, but the one that consistently saves the most lives in most situations is the seat belt, so get some. That said, the Minor still lacks all other modern safety features. There are no crumple zones, airbags or side impact protection systems. The steering column isn't collapsible, something which we've taken for granted on cars since at least the early 80s. This means that in a head-on crash, the steering wheel will do quite a nasty injury to your ribcage, instead of falling away like a collapsible one would. The seats do not have headrests, so if someone rear-ends you particularly violently, you'll probably get whiplash.
It is safety concerns like this that cause a lot of people to steer clear of classic cars they otherwise like, and I can understand that. However, it is important to remember one of the most basic rules of driving safety; staying safe on the road is about avoiding accidents in the first place, not surviving them when they happen, and this is where I believe the Minor actually has an advantage. Because it's not that fast, because the brakes are not that good, and because there are no driver aids to help you, your driving style adjusts, and you become a lot more cautious. If you're a sensible driver, you'll be actively trying to be careful anyway. A line my parents trot out a lot, however, is that no matter how carefully I drive, I still have no control over the actions of other drivers, and that they could still endanger me. This is somewhat true, but by being aware of the road and cars around you, you can do your best to stay out of their way. Unless you encounter a psychopath who's determined to crash into every car he can find, you should be fine so long as you keep your wits about you.
Anyway, back to the driving experience. Once you've got the engine going, and you have (or haven't) strapped in your seatbelt, you're ready to set off. The clutch pedal hinges from the floor, so the action of pushing it feels a bit strange compared to other cars, where it usually hinges from a pedal box underneath the dashboard. What's more, you'll notice that the clutch is a lot heavier than in a modern car. This is because the clutch is operated by a cable, as opposed to the hydraulic system found in most modern cars. Although this requires a lot more effort to disengage the clutch, the system is much simpler and requires little maintenance, if any. But once the clutch is down, you can't just shift into first gear, no sir. You have to wait a few seconds for the gearbox to stop spinning, then select first. This is because first gear does not have any synchromesh on it. To cut a long and technical story short, this basically means you can't shift into first while the car is moving or there is motion in the gearbox, otherwise the gearbox will graunch horribly. However, since you only use first gear for moving off from stationary or ascending particularly steep hills, it's not too much of a bother, but more on that later. The other three gears have synchromesh, so you can shift into them any time without graunching. The gear pattern itself is as you'd find on most modern cars; first at top left, second at bottom left, third at top centre, fourth at bottom centre, and reverse at bottom right, with a blank spot at top right where fifth would be.
Once you're in gear, give it a bit of gas with the accelerator, and let the clutch up. The biting point of the clutch is quite low on the pedal's travel, and is unfortunately quite vague, probably due to the cable system. This will probably vary based on the condition of the clutch disc and the cable system. It is quite easy to forget where the biting point is after a few days of not driving the car, but after a minute or two you'll get into the swing of it.
As you move out onto the road, the first thing you'll notice is that first gear whines very loudly due to the lack of synchromesh. Then you'll go for a gear change. The throw, that is, the distance the top of the gear lever has to travel to change gears, is vast by modern standards. Most small cars nowadays have a 3-5 inch throw. The throw on the Minor gearbox is a good 10 inches, so snappy gear changes are out, and if you try to rush the gearbox the synchromeshes will probably complain at you. However, the huge throw is very reassuring, and it really feels like you've changed gears. It's fun too; moving the huge lever around makes you smile as it clunks into position, and really makes you feel like you're putting more effort into driving the car, which you are. You'll move through the gears quite quickly. If you're keeping the revs low, second will take you to about 13mph, and third to 25mph. Fourth is your final gear, which will take you all the way up to your top speed of 78mph. However, for pootling around town, where you seldom exceed 30mph, the Moggy will do just fine.
Once you're on the road and have got some speed up, you'll instinctively check your mirrors and instrumentation. The rear view mirror is great. It's nice and large like a modern mirror, and show's what's behind you nicely. The wing mirrors, however, are a slightly different story. This is partly because, in some cases, there won't be any. Wing mirrors were not seen as compulsory items in the Minor's day, so a lot of cars were sold without them. However, most owners have fitted them to their cars themselves, as they add to the chrome factor. Door mirrors are also available but despite their convenience they remain less popular, due to the fact they often interfere with the quarterlight. My car has been fitted with wing mirrors, but they are of limited usefulness. The one on the driver's side does show what's behind me down the right flank, but because the mirror is small, quite a long way down the car, and not slightly convex like it would be on a modern car, the view it gives is very narrow, although having it on the wing instead of the door does put it closer to the driver's field of vision. The passenger side wing mirror is useless. This is because it points towards the ground, and does not have any vertical adjustment, so all you'll see is the gutter racing past. It is useful for parallel parking however. To adjust the mirror's horizontal positioning, you need to use a spanner, which means adjusting them correctly is the work of two people, or a very lucky guess.
You then glance at your speedo, which by now you've noticed is in the centre of the dashboard. It shows your speed up to 90mph (some also have it in kph), and has a simple fuel gauge at the bottom. Within the dial there are four lights to tell you whether the ignition is on/battery is discharging, whether your full beams are on, whether the engine has enough oil pressure, and if the oil filter needs replacing. That's it. There's no tachometer, temperature gauge, oil pressure gauge, trip counter or MPG readout. Just the basics.
Along the road, you need to take a turn. First of course, you indicate. The Minor 1000 has flashing indicators just like a modern car, and the stalk is on the right side of the steering column. When you flick it up or down to indicate the tip of it will flash a bright green light, and you will hear the flasher unit clicking on and off. The indicators do not self cancel, but this is bonus to me as I found the self cancelling sort often think they know better where you're going than you do.
Next, you'll brake for the corner. In my opinion, it is the brakes of a Morris Minor that will most startle a driver fresh from the world of modern cars. The Minor has simple, unassisted drum brakes. These differ greatly from the disc brakes of a modern car, which are much more effective, and do not suffer from brake fade (at least, not in normal road use). Modern cars are also equipped with brake servos. These are devices that mechanically augment the force you are applying to the brake pedal, making the brakes lighter and sharper. However, the Minor is a good quarter ton lighter than even the most basic modern hatchback, and will be half a ton lighter than the average saloon, meaning there is a lot less dead weight to slow down. This means that the drum brakes do actually work reasonably well, providing the system is in good condition. You do have to really step on the pedal though, not just lightly push it as you might do in a modern car.
As you take the corner, you'll notice the steering. This is one of the Minor's best features. The steering uses a rack and pinion mechanism to direct the front wheels, as a lot of cars now still do. This may seem like a pretty mundane and simple feature, but at the time it was a quantum leap forward in car handling. It means the steering in a Minor, although unassisted, is light, but extremely precise and pointable, helped in part by the independent front suspension.
After pootling about in town for a while, let's say you wish to take a trip along the motorway. Once you leave the slip road and join the motorway, you'll push up past 50 and 60mph. The noise at this point will probably be fairly loud; not deafening, but somewhat noisier than a modern hatchback might be. This is mostlt because 4th gear will run the engine at higher revs than 5th gear would, which you of course, do not have. It's also due to the fairly minimal in the cabin. On most cars, you'll get a slab of it under the carpets, and probably nothing else. Then there is the issue of speed to contend with. In my 1098cc car, speeds in excess of 75 mph are attainable, eventually. However, I find it much more agreeable to cruise around 60mph. It is possible to cruise at 70mph, but this of course puts much more strain on the running gear (my gearbox bearings sometimes complain at me at these speeds) as well as using up considerably more fuel. At 60mph, the car runs very happily and should return quite a reasonable MPG; I calculated 41mpg on one trip. However, your cruising and maximum speeds will depend quite a lot on the general condition of your engine, gearbox, axles, tyres, as well of course the engine's capacity. The 948cc engine is almost as powerful as the 1098cc engine, and is quite capable of keeping up a 60mph cruising speed. The 803cc engine has rather less power than the 948cc, and cruising speeds of between 50-55mph seem to be the norm for those engines. The 918cc sidevalve engine has a slightly higher top speed than the 803cc engine, but suffers from slower acceleration. Cars with the sidevalve engine are very rare though, so it's unlikely you'd use one regularly.
Of course, a cruising speed of 60mph will relegate you almost permanently to the outside lane, which is fine, until you meet a lorry in front that is going 55mph, and you have to overtake. Cars will be whizzing by in the middle lane often in excess of 80mph, so you must be careful. The wing mirror, as I mentioned previously, is of limited usefulness, so you'll be checking over your shoulder a fair bit before you pull out. Foot to the floor, and you'll slowly creep past the lorry, and probably build up a couple of cars behind you. Where possible, time your overtakes on a downhill stretch of road, so gravity will assist you.
Unfortunately, whilst you're driving, it has started to rain, so you switch on the wipers. Modern cars have variable speeds you can set the wipers to; usually Intermittent, On, and Fast are the three you can choose from. In the Minor, there are no speeds; on or off are your choices. However, the speed they have is a good speed, and should see you alright. I have heard from others that the wipers are only good in light to medium rain. In my opinion, this is untrue. I once drove my car at about 50mph along a motorway through absolutely torrential rain, and the wipers still allowed me to see where I was going. The only real problem with the wipers is at the other end of the rain scale, when there is only light spitting drizzle. The wipers will wipe away the tiny drops of rain too quickly, and will start to squeak against the glass, so you will have to manually turn the wipers on and off constantly until the rain gets heavier or stops.
What about if your windscreen gets dirty? My advice is, stop at a service station and clean it with their hose. The windscreen washer is a manual pump that you push with your thumb; basically a water-pistol aimed at your windscreen. The little jets of water it delivers are pathetic, and will probably just smear the dirt around rather than wash it off. They also have a nasty habit of getting airlocked and refusing to work at all.
What about if you need to travel at night? My car has standard sealed beam headlights, although upgrades to halogen headlights are very common. However, I find the sealed beam headlights to be perfectly fine. The peripheral light is not as good as a modern car, the light doesn't reach quite as far, and they are a bit low in their dipped setting, but on full beams they are absolutely fine.
Comfort? Well, for cold days, there is a heater. Actually, the term "heater" is a bit of a misnomer, as the device itself does not actually heat the air. It's just an electric fan that blows air into the car. This is useful in traffic jams when you are hardly moving, or not at all, but above 25mph the air will be blown through the car by itself far more effectively. The actual temperature of the air coming through the heater is controlled by a valve underneath the dashboard. Push it all the way in, and hot water from the engine will run through the heater, warming up the air as it passes through. Pull the valve all the way out, and the flow of water is shut off, providing no heat to the air. Once the engine is up to temperature, it can heat up the air coming into the car quite considerably. The heater panel allows you to shut off the flow of air, direct it at the windscreen through two vents in the dashboard, or vent it entirely into the car. However, I find the demisting function of the heater rather unhelpful, as it will actually steam up the windscreen before gradually clearing it again, so you will need to remain stationary while this happens. I choose instead to have a flow of cold air into the car, thus keeping an equilibrium of temperature between the air and the glass, thus preventing any steaming from occurring. Unfortunately, the rear window will steam up on damp days, or cold days when you are carrying passengers (all that hot breath). The only reliable way I have found of demisting it is to drive with your window down, allowing fresh air to reach the back of the car. A coat is therefore advised. The Minor is definitely more suited to warmer weather. There is no air conditioning of course, so if it is a boiling hot summers day you may get a bit sweaty. Fortunately, those days are somewhat rare in England. On warm days you'll be fine just rolling down a window or opening a quarterlight.
As far as seating goes, you may be pleasantly surprised. You get stylish 1960s vinyl seats; two in the front, and a bench seat in the back that is nominally for two people, but due to there being no seatbelts back there, you could, in theory, cram in as many people as will fit. I am 6ft 5, and I can fit into the driver's seat with no problems at all. This is not because the Minor is a big car; it isn't. It's because the interior is not crammed full of bulky plastic trim, so there is plenty of room for your limbs. The seats themselves are actually quite comfortable, and perfectly bearable on all but very long journeys. Rear legroom is somewhat limited, and although the driver's seat can be slide forward a bit, it won't help a great deal.
What about for moving things? The boot on the saloon and convertible cars is not exactly cavernous, but should be ok for day to day things. A reasonable amount of shopping can be fitted in there, or a couple of reasonably sized suitcases. One thing I do like about the boot is that it is dual layered. There is a gap between the floor of the car and the floor of the boot, above which luggage rides. About half this gap is taken up by the spare wheel, but the other half is a great place to keep tools and a box of spare parts.
I should stress, however, that if you plan on moving a lot of things around in your Minor, a traveller model would probably be more suitable, perhaps even a van.
I have waffled quite a bit now, but I believe I've covered all the essentials. To sum up, the Morris Minor 1000 is good, fun little car to drive. It copes well with city traffic, and motorways are fine too as long as you take your time and keep your wits about you. It is quite a departure from modern motoring, but it's very easy to cope with. I find it is its most fun when you get onto a country lane and get your foot down; it becomes a real roller coaster ride.
I should mention that I can only speak for cars like mine; that is, post-1963 2-door saloons, since that is the only sort of Morris Minor I have ever owned. I chose it because it is the latest and best equipped version of the car. If you buy an earlier car, you will have different features to mine, unless they have been retrofitted. I will cover the differences in detail in another article.
However, this post should give you a good indication of what it is like to drive a Morris Minor every day.
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