Bristol Blenheim for sale

It is a Vauxhall colour rather than a Morris one.

The previous owner had bought a bare metal restoration project, so was free to choose any colour. This is Vauxhall U67 which she rather liked having gone through lots of colour swatches, and she kept the car for 12 years after the restoration completed so it has been that colour for some time now. I like it too, so I have kept it, and have painted the steel wheels that colour too rather than the original white seen in the photo.

Jim

Me too. The first car my wife and I bought between us was a Morris Minor.

A few years ago we went and took an "updated" one out from Charlie Ware's with a view to buying it for sunny weekends. Oh, dear. Horrid, horrid thing.

I'd still quite like one. With Sierra Cosworth 4x4 mechanicals in it.

I've not driven one. It could be when you 'improve' an old car like that with so many modern bits it looses the charm you liked in the first place. After all, a Marina was similar to a Minor in most ways mechanical - but a pretty horrid thing to drive.

Right. ;-)

There are brake mods, suspension mods, engine and gearbox mods available (there used to be an Sierra 5-speed gearbox option but lately the Marina box has been offered).

But part of the pleasure of a classic is to drive what the designer designed. The drum brakes are good enough to lock the wheels if you have a strong enough leg, the roadholding isn't bad and uprated suspension would require different wheels to put more rubber on the road to take advantage of it, and suddenly what you have is a different car in the old body. It would be as much of a fake as the modern VW Beetle which bears no relation to the original.

Mine is all original. It is under-geared in that the engine runs out of revs at a relatively low road speed, so a fifth gear would be useful. But if it had the extra gear, there is enough grunt in the engine to go a lot faster, and then the original brakes, tyres and suspension would be a bit of a liability.

So I treat it as a car to be enjoyed without any expectations of modern luxury. It is quite happy as a daily driver, and it will do long journeys at modest speed, though the seats get a bit uncomfortable eventually. However, for long journeys at motorway speeds I have a Triumph PI, so I don't need to stress the Minor at all.

Jim

My uncle was a manager in a big company, based in St. Albans. I was working for him when the Marina came out, and he took an early example out for a test drive, for fleet use, and I went along. His conclusion: "It's absolutely horrible to drive. We'll take 30 of them".

In an earlier life, I was in the Police. They replaced our much-loved and damned near indestructible Austin Cambridges (the lovely Pininfarina styled ones) with Marinas. The 1300 cc ones, just to rub salt into the wound.

I weep for you.