I still own my first car.
It is a 1967 Morris 1000. It has around 48bhp, 61 lb/ft of torque and a top speed of 73mph. I say around, because at 48 years old, it has earned the right to have lost a little vigour. It is dogged, rather than fast. Tough, rather than exhilarating.
The Minor was the first car I drove on my own. As a youngster, I went as fast as I dared in it, which, given the modest power, was rarely enough to break a speed limit. I span it, hit kerbs, clipped the odd parked car during poorly executed parking manoeuvres and basically conquered the poor driving techniques and habits that come with inexperience. All of them at low speed and in relative safety. It simply wasn’t fast enough to get me in real trouble.
At the same time, my mates were having far more serious spills in MkII Fiestas and Vauxhall Novas, which happily they recovered from, even if their more powerful, more fragile front-wheel-drive motors didn’t.
As I got older, and owned more cars, I came to appreciate the Minor for its ability to communicate exactly what it was doing, even when travelling at walking pace.
My Morris Minor has disc brakes on the front, which is an upgrade from standard, but there is no servo assistance. Any force you apply to the brakes is transmitted directly and it’s a very manual process. Press too hard and the brakes lock up. Don’t press hard enough and you will hit something. Slowly.
The clutch pedal is a similarly analogue affair, attached to the clutch fork and release bearing by a threaded piece of steel. No hydraulics or cable operation to smooth things out. You need to carefully balance the millimetres (actually, the few thou) between a kangaroo start and a stall. That said, the unassisted steering is actually thoroughly modern in operation, being light and direct, but drive over a lolly stick that has been left in the road, and you’ll feel it ripple through the rim of the spindly tiller.
All of this meant that, as a young and dumb driver, I at least got to recognise what the car was doing, and what I was doing wrong. It taught me to drive, long after I’d handed my L-plates back. It’s that closeness, that affinity with this humdrum little saloon which means it has never been sold.
Like a lot of people with old cars tucked away, I don’t use it as much as I might.
There are few less intimidating things to see on the road than a Morris Minor, but despite this, drivers of more modern cars seem to treat it, and me, as something of a threat. People pull out in front of us, cut into the lane we are in and refuse to merge in turn. Drivers will literally take their lives in their hands to overtake on B-roads, even if I’m keeping up with the other traffic.
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Good points, well made
I don't feel the need to
I don't feel the need to subject myself to cross ply tyres, although I know they would add the authenticity. Can't help thinking that my braking distances would be a real challenge.
And as for these things afflicting all cars, I take the point. I was trying to suggest that it is the people in the modern cars who would benefit from a spell in older cars to see what the effect that such aggressive driving has on other motorists.
Unless you drive a brand new
It's the whole attitude of other drivers, not that you're driving a classic.