Sep 20 2024.
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There were over a million “moggies” built from 1948 to 1971. This description was used by some of us to call the little Morris Minor car exported round the Empire, the first economy family vehicle. Launched at the first Earls Court motor show in 1948 it was code-named the ”Mosquito”. Its name however came from William Morris, Lord Nutfield.
My missionary family would tour for weeks in remote locations in Rhodesia in our blue moggy with our Scottie dog. We would go off for ten days with two small suitcases on the roof rack. They said the early model's maximum speed was 62 miles an hour, but we never had the quality roads to do this speed. If I pushed Dad to drive faster, he would say, "We are not going to heaven just yet."
There used to be many of these cars on the roads in Jaffna, and I’ve seen a number of them when travelling upcountry in Sri Lanka. There is a field of rotting Minors I see each time I go to Victoria near Kandy. It’s a car cemetery, and I would like to stop on the next trip and have a nostalgic taphophile fix. The car has never had the sexy look of the VW Beetle, but one and a half million were built. The Beetle car which focused on the same target market became a greater success in the family budget market.
There is good news and bad news. In 2025, the Morris Minor's new retro streamline look car is coming out. The vintage look, but pumped up with a retro style, a turbocharged engine, leather seats and touch screen, etc. The Price tag is $35k. That's the bad news. I have so many happy impressions of Morris Minors in my youth. At five years of age, I went through the windscreen
of a Morris Minor, hit a tree and fell back into the car, lucky to still live.
1 Comments
Raju Asokan says:
Sep 21, 2024 at 06:59 amThis used to be the main taxi cab vehicle in 1960, 1970s and one of the most popular British make.