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HomePick of the DayRight-hand-drive 1969 Morris Minor, a stalwart of British motoring

Right-hand-drive 1969 Morris Minor, a stalwart of British motoring

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The Morris Minor was created as an affordable British car for regular folk, but a step up from basic transportation with a bit of stylish flair.  This was the car that put Britain back on wheels after WWII, akin to France’s Citroen 2CV, Italy’s Fiat 500 and, of course, Germany’s Volkswagen.

The Minor was designed by the visionary engineer Alec Issigonis, who would go on to create the iconic Mini that would eventually supplant the Minor, which debuted in 1948 and was produced through 1972.

morris minor

The Pick of the Day is a later model 1969 Morris Minor, its Britishness enhanced by being right-hand drive, which is an attention-getter all on its own.

The 2-door sedan is advertised on ClassicCars.com by a private seller in Albuquerque, New Mexico, who says the vehicle was purchased at a Morris Minor collectors’ event in England in 2012 and brought to the U.S.

“It’s in excellent condition and I’ve been very happy with it the last seven years,” the seller says in the ad, who notes that it was repainted in 2014.

“The car has been serviced regularly and housed in a garage ever since I bought it,” the seller adds. “I just had new brakes installed in August.”

The Minor is a fairly conventional car compared with its European counterparts, although with an advanced chassis design, independent torsion-bar front suspension, rack-and-pinion steering and unibody construction.  It sold reasonably well in the U.S., although it was eclipsed by the VW Beetle in popularity.

Like the Beetle, the engine is small and power output limited; the 1.0-liter straight-4 OHV engine in the Minor provides 48 horsepower, which is just about enough to reasonably propel the lightweight sedan.  The handling is nimble and the ride is above-par for the era.

The photos with the ad show a clean-looking little Minor that’s apparently ready to enjoy.  The asking price is $10,000.

Prospective buyers should note the quirkiness of driving with the steering wheel on the right and shifting with the left hand.  The pedals are in the same positions or as those in a left-hander, and it’s really not that hard to get used to for anyone with decent driving skill and an adventurous spirit.

To view this listing on ClassicCars.com, see Pick of the Day.

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Bob Golfen
Bob Golfen
Bob Golfen is a longtime automotive writer and editor, focusing on new vehicles, collector cars, car culture and the automotive lifestyle. He is the former automotive writer and editor for The Arizona Republic and SPEED.com, the website for the SPEED motorsports channel. He has written free-lance articles for a number of publications, including Autoweek, The New York Times and Barrett-Jackson auction catalogs. A collector car enthusiast with a wide range of knowledge about the old cars that we all love and desire, Bob enjoys tinkering with archaic machinery. His current obsession is a 1962 Porsche 356 Super coupe.

2 COMMENTS

  1. hi every one i own a 1960 morris minor 1098cc . shes had 4 prev owners i am the 5 th she has been very very well looked after especialy the last owner all she needs from me is a lot of t l c
    shes a 4 door saloon with trafcators on side of doors will be fixing new ones in summer must tell you this while driving the otherday a plumb of smoke came from the indecator stalk all i could do was pray it was not going into a fire everythings ok i belive it was a small spider i saw 2 days before on dash he /she crawled into the housing to keep warm well hes hot now
    i think i cremated him /her its all ok now i love how many people come and tell there storys about my dad had one my aynt we had one brand new the morris minor to me is the greatest british car ever made keeping her original winter project cant wait till spring and the show times thanks for reading watch out for those spiders lol

  2. At a time when this Morris Minor was a not uncommon sight on the street, I thought they were the ugliest auto around. Now days, however, when I can’t tell one car from another without reading the manufacturer’s badge, I find the style and design of the car to be refreshing. I guess I’m gettin’ old …..

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