Vintage Minor Register

Just a quick introduction for FL7665 - my recently acquired 1929 Minor 4 seat Tourer.

A brief but unfortunately incomplete history is shown below, with some involvement from our own Ian Grace who reported upon FL7665 in the Spring 2012 VMR Newsletter and attached some pics.
All these years later, having passed through various owners, it would appear her condition has changed little, since she slipped through Ian's fingers, apart from her being dismantled even further and the frame deteriorating so the body is splaying.

Chassis laid down 15/3/29
Tested 15/3/29
Body shop 15/3/29
Final road test 18/3/29
Despatched 21/3/29
Engine 4096
Tourer (4 Seat)

• Originally Peterborough registered
• Found in Corwall, when the building she was in collapsed - Previously owned by a local fisherman and Blue in colour (Original?)
• Part restored by garage owner, Dave Collins, Blowing House Garage in Penryn Cornwall (in 1980’s ?) - around this time Ian Grace located and expressed an interest in her, as reported in his later article.
• Sold on to Barry Hartley in Preston
• Present whereabouts requested within the Morris Vintage Register 1st edition in 2000 when it was incorrectly described as having a brown body (probably due to a poor photograph of it at a Cornish fair/show) current colour Maroon & it now has a hood/frame & side panels
• Acquired by Stephen Thomas, 22 Garden Drive, Rugeley, Staffordshire WS15 1BX - Tel: 01889 358338 Mob: 07966 544603 jsautorepairs@aol.com jsjagspares@aol.com - Ebay seller js-autos-left-overs
• 7th October 2012 sold on Ebay by Stephen Thomas in Litchfield, Staffordshire for £4126 but to whom? Ian Grace (VMR) Credited by Stephen Thomas with information given in his Ebay advertisement
• 2014 - Purchased by Derek Tew (VSCC member & Archivist for British Motor Museum – Gaydon) as a restoration project by life & circumstances plus other commitments put it on a back burner.
Derek is a Wolesley Hornet and latterly a Frazer Nash owner and the Nash dominated his time and effort, leading to his descision to sell the Minor on.
• January 2017 - I viewed the Minor and the sale agreed
• 10th February 2017 – PB collected Morris from Solihull

Essentially, she is pretty complete, although I do have a growing list of items that I shall need to source, Ian having already assisting me with a few items.
My immediate aim is to establish what I actually have and what I need in order to start a rolling conservation, no doubt, in time, she may well be returned to her original Blue, but in the meantime she can remain in the Maroon that I found her.

I should be most grateful if any forum member has prior knowledge of this Tourer, that they share it, so that a more complete history may be put on record for everyone's interest.

Pics to follow

Hi Paul, and welcome to the Register and the forum.

Hearty congrats on your acquisition. Tourers for restoration are thin on the ground these days - particularly early nickel radiator examples.

I look forward to tracking your progress, and I'm particularly pleased that you don't plan to pull the car into a million pieces - too many Minors have suffered this fate over the years, and most remain in this state!

Also looking forward to meeting at Prescott in July and handing over some small but vital components!

Ian

Thanks for your welcome Ian.

Also looking forward to Pre-War Prescott, catching up and meeting you and collecting those spares for FL7665.

In the meantime, some pics in date order;

Paul,

The ash frame has certainly deteriorated since I last saw the car (and tried to buy it) in the early eighties. Do you have the bumpers? Or the spare wheel carrier?

Glad it has finally found a good home.

Ash frame is well and truly shot along the cills, where rot and woodworm has had an effect, the cills have sunk to the outside of the chassis, causing the body to splay at the top.
I currently have the body tied across the car between the side screen support holes to give it some support.

Yes I have Bumpers (front & Rear) and spare wheel carrier, will take and add pics

Have you contacted Tony Gamble?

He recently made this ash frame:

I have touched base with him over running boards, as mine are missing. He has kindly sent a drawing for me to make them up from and by return has asked for a drawing of my dashboard, which I have posted off to him this morning.

His frame looks fab.

Great stuff. It's a pity we can't get enough interest together to have a small batch of frames professionally made.