The Early Morris Society

[Ian Grace]

240 M Types now on the master chassis register, and I have about 120 more to add. This will bring us close to the circa 400 which the MMM register reckon have survived.

In all there are now 897 cars on the EMS chassis register, so this will top 1,000 as soon as I get the rest of the M's in there - hopefully tomorrow night. Then work will mainly concentrate on the Bullnoses, Flatnoses and 8s.

[Ian Grace]

More huge progress. Bob Clare, the MMM Registrar, just sent me an up-to-date M Register of 497 survivors, so I'll merge this with what we have already and see where that leaves us. Then we will work together to ensure that our two registers are kept precisely in step.

Jeremy has also been working hard, and has sent me 162 10/4s and 21 10/6s, so I guess I'll be busy again tonight!

With such well-managed data on the other MMM cars available, and with the full co-operation from the MMM Regsiter, it is tempting to consider adding the other pre-war MGs and Wolseleys to the mix - thereby encompassing all the pre-war Nuffield production.

[Ian Grace]

A valuable resource for building the Master Chassi Register is the DVLA's online vehicle search tool. Here's an example report for a Morris 10/6 selected at random:

The enquiry is complete
The vehicle details for HG 3051 are:

Date of liability 04 07 2008
Date of First Registration 31 12 1934
Year of Manufacture Not Available
Cylinder Capacity (cc) 1631CC
CO2 Emissions Not Available
Fuel Type Petrol
Export Marker Not Applicable
Vehicle Status Licence Not Due
Vehicle Colour BLACK
Vehicle Type Approval null

This is useful, because it confirms the existence of the vehicle, providec engine capacity (useful for sorting Oxfords and Cowleys!) and licensing status,as wel as first licensing date, which is a column in the chassis register.

Does anyone know the plain english meaning of 'Date of Liability', and what does 'Vehicle Status Licence Not Due' imply - vehicle is currently taxed, or is not on the road and therefore not taxed at all?

Edited to add -the website is at http://www.vehiclelicence.gov.uk/EvlPortalApp/

Click on the Vehicle Enquiry tab on the left.

[Ian Grace]

Here's the report for my McEvoy which is definitely not taxed, and has been off the road since 1956:

Date of Liability 19 09 2008
Date of First Registration 12 07 1933
Year of Manufacture Not Available
Cylinder Capacity (cc) 885CC
CO2 Emissions Not Available
Fuel Type Petrol
Export Marker Not Applicable
Vehicle Status Licence Not Due
Vehicle Colour GREY
Vehicle Type Approval null

So 'Vehicle Status Licence Not Due' definitely doesn't mean that the car is taxed!

[Ian Grace]

Progress report for the night. 290 M Types now on the list. Data up to 2M/1295 is complete, the rest is liable to be updated shortly. Although this data is the latest available from the MMM Register, I am not ENTIRELY sure that all these vehicles actuallly exist, and I am certainly sure that many of them are Minors in disguise!

Also added about 170 10/4s and 21 10/6s passed to me by Jeremy Evans earlier today - thanks Jeremy!

[DF9053]

Date of liability looks to mean the date the next road fund licence or SORN is required. It works for my cars, all the dates being the first of the month after the expiry of the tax disc or the SORN. Some of the dates others are getting are mid month thats a bit weird isn't it?

Also 10/6 engine capacity is 1378cc so like all data sets a pinch of salt is perhaps required to go with it!

Cheers
Jeremy

[Ian Grace]

More great progress today - now up to 1,233 cars (up from 879 four days ago) on the Master Register, and plenty of photos posted or about to be. Still ploughing through the M Types.

[Ian Grace]

Pressing on. I am playing around with the EMS website, trying out different formats. I have put the news and the forum in the open area. I think both should be good shop windows for the Society when we really go public in a couple of months. All the meaty stuff like the Members' List and Master Chassis Register will remain in the Members' Area.

Still adding vehicles and photos apace. We now have 256 SV Minors and this number is set to climb dramatically. Some way to go to pass the OHC Minors at 391, and even the M Types at 309. Pretty impressive figures this early on.

[Ian Grace]

More progress is quietly being made in building the Master Chassis Register. The Register now includes 1,539 vehicles and additional data on them is coming in steadily. As significantly, the number of uploaded reference photos of vehicles on the Register passed 400 tonight. Thanks to everyone who has sent in data - keep it coming!

[Toby]

Have a photo of a minor special that a friend of my dads built. He and dad both dead now so can't tell more. Will try and scan and send to you. UO 9795.

[Ian Grace]

Toby,

This was Keith Johnson's creation, wasn't it? I remember plying Keith with parts for it - including the wings, I think. Photo received and added to the Register - will be visible after the next upload.

[Toby]

Blimey, you're on the case! I thought I'd come up with an unknown minor. Keith lived opposite my dad and his daughter works at Beaulieu, he died a couple of years before my dad, they were old car buddies, my dad was very upset:- my mum said she'd never seen him cry before. What a small world it is, don't know where the car is now, he had a vauxhall too.

[Ian Grace]

All part of the incredible VMR service!

Jim Worth has the car in Christchurch now - he is VMR member No. 70. Jim bought this car Christmas 2003 from Mark Hepden in Witney who sold it around 2003 - as advertised in the Reading Free-Ad. Mark bought it in 1999 when he joined the Morris Register as member #10220. Mark bought it from a dealer in Amersham - advertised in the Automobile, beleived to have been Nicky Paul-Barron. ex-Keith Johnson, 45 Wainford Rd., Lymington, Hants., SO4 10JR 01590/643891. Jim is looking for an original body for the car. There is an article with photos by Keith about this car in MR Journal Autumn '93.

So much for the Register records. From memory, I delivered all the parts for this car to a chap who ran an excavation business near Heathrow, and who owed Keith money for some reason, and provided the parts in lieu! Keith was not exactly a purist when it came to restoration, but then he did resurrect the car from a seriously scrap state. Chassis is quite early - M3424, laid down 4/3/29. You can look it up in the Master Chassis Register.

[David Whittle]

I went over to see Mark and this Minor in Dec 03 and had a drive round Witney in UO 9795. Mark bought it from a dealer who had it for sale at the BEAULIEU Autojumble. If it had been a bit more original I might have bought it!

It went quite well, but the heavy very crude Plywood body slowed it down somewhat, and some of the engineering on its restoration offended my sensitivities! The doors were massive sheets of thick plywood and the rear end looked like LEGO as it was massive lumps of Plywood crudely shaped in steps! But as Ian says it was at least 'a going concern' so much better than a rusting hulk in a shed!

Now that was a car that could have made a good M type clone! But with a Morris Radiator proudly on display so as not to decieve.

Mark was pretty desperate for a sale and would have accepted a pretty low offer! Most of the interest had been in the Registration No, but I think it was non-transferable so all the dealers walked away. Mark seemed a nice chap, he looked after the Buses in Witney. He wanted a Bullnose to replace it!

[Toby]

By all accounts Keith was a good engineer but my brother and i had a bit of a laugh at the build! Clearly it needs a cms body!