1968 Morris Minor/Ford Crossflow 1700

Many people of a certain vintage will clearly remember a number of college mates inheriting their mother’s Morris Minors shortly after passing their driving test. Naturally the first thing to do was to distance the car from its previous life as a family run-around and present it as something a little more cool. This normally involved losing the hub caps and the addition of spotlights, dashboard switch panels, a leather-covered steering wheel, ‘bullet hole’ decals and a Peco 'big-bore' exhaust.

One or two recognised the Minor’s sporting potential, fitting wider wheels, anti-tramp bars, stiffer springs and twin carbs, but inevitably, as soon as it became fiscally possible, a Spitfire, MG A or Mini Cooper would appear on the drive where the Moggie had once stood. So, the ultimate Morris Minor remained a figment of our collective imaginations and never really existed. Until perhaps now.

Sourced from the MM Centre in 2004, this 1968 two-door Series V Minor was stripped to a bare shell before being entrusted to JLH Minors in Napton for a full body restoration and repaint in Gloss Black. The car was then rebuilt by our vendor, a time-served automotive engineer, to his personal specification and the result, as can be seen in our images, is very impressive.

It’s powered by a 1,700cc Ford Kent crossflow four-cylinder, rebuilt to Burton 'Stage 3' spec, (balanced, modified head, Burton cam) fuelled through twin 40DCOE Webers and exhausted through a fabricated manifold. Cooling is aided by an aluminium radiator with electric fan and additional features include a toothed-belt drive to the alternator and water pump, a remote oil filter and electronic ignition. A print-out in the file confirms that 125bhp was recorded on the rolling road at Aldon Automotive. The gearbox is a Sierra Type 9 5-speed (re-manufactured) mated to an Escort RS 2000 rear axle. Morris Minor brakes were never legendary so retardation relies on Escort front disc brakes and Escort rear drums, with a remote booster in the boot and new brake lines. The independent front suspension has been modified with bottom wishbones and coil-over dampers (torsion bars retained) and rear suspension is the domain of original leaf springs but with Spax telescopic dampers.

Other modifications/enhancements include a new wiring harness, battery in the boot, retrimmed throughout, Corbeau front bucket seats, Cooper S 130mph speedo, Stack rev counter, RaceTech temp and oil pressure gauges and much more. All modificatioins to allow the drivetrain and IFS installation to fit were designed by our vendor and fabricated to his drawings (on file).

The car has been on the road since 2008, covering around 25,000 miles in mostly dry conditions and kept in dehumidified garage for the rest of the time. It’s been used and enjoyed over the years including four trips to Le Mans, one of which generated a 'Certificate' from the local Gendarmerie confirming a cruising speed in excess of 100mph!

Recent new tyres and a current MOT. The history file contains lots of invoices, receipts, old MOTs, modification details, relevant drawings and well, you know, history!

An E-Type keeps our vendor occupied these days but nevertheless, saying goodbye is not going to be easy. Is this the ultimate Morris Minor? We will take some convincing that it’s not.