http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Morris-minor- ... 135wt_1399
There is a sad story behind this car. I first saw it when it was owned by Patrick Crozier-Cole about 30 years ago. he lived in Farley, near Salisbury and had owned the car since he was a student at Oxford in the fifties. It had been crudely converted to a 2-seater with cut-down windscreen and other mods. Patrick had reached the time of life when he wanted to restore it properly for his children. I spent an interesting day going over it with him and telling him what was original and what was not.
Then disaster struck - Patrick was on the M62 one particularly foggy morning and was involved in a hundred-car pile-up. The cars caught fire, and Patrick was burned to death.
Years later, his widow decided to go ahead with the restoration, and a friend, Wg Cdr Bell over in East Dean, Hants. carried out the work - spending around GBP 10,000 on it, including GBP 4,000 on the engine. These were unheard of restoration numbers for a Minor at that time. The car received a brand new ash frame and was returned to original specification.
But the children had no interest in the car, so it was subsequently sold locally around 2001 to John and Karen Green in Shaftsbury. However, John suffered from memory loss and it was passed on again to Tim Kerridge who planned to use it commercially for vintage picnics. The business plan didn't work out, so it was sold on again to Terry Butler in Somerset and it appears that Terry has now passed away and the car is being sold on again.
I suspect that the car will have a quite high reserve, and although there are plenty of bids, it will be interesting to see whether the reserve is reached. However, I believe that this would make an excellent vintage Minor for anyone seriously looking.
Here it is when owned by Tim Kerridge:
