Morris no minor in the pantheon of cars

PASSION at play: Morris Minor enthusiasts will definitely agree on this common denominator – that passion is what drives them to do what they do.

To these enthusiasts and to many other motorists besides, the Morris Minor car is a beautiful and historically significant car, with people from all over the world reeling at just how amazing this vehicle is.

The Morris Minor Club in Port Elizabeth has recently elected a new board and they are keen to get more new people involved.

Club president Brian Clark says of their favourite car: "You either love them or hate them and, you know, for people like us who restore old vintage cars, it doesn’t get much better than this.

"We are a group of like-minded individuals and the parts are relatively easy to come by, if you know the right people.”

The reason he got into vintage car restoration is his love and passion for "the vehicles of yesteryear”, he said.

"What attracts me to the Morris Minor is the fact that it is quite simply a humbling car.

"There is nothing complicated about them and, for a car that is pre-World War 2, the carbon footprint it leaves is amazingly small compared to modern cars.”

In 1913, William Morris assembled his first car from spare parts and called it an "Oxford”. Later, in 1925, he made his first small car, calling it a "Morris” and, within a year, it had captured 51% of the U.K market.

Francois van Jaarsveld, treasurer of the Morris Minor Club in Port Elizabeth said, "from a young age, something just hooked me about the car. I can’t explain it.”

"Every time we go for an outing in the cars, we get stopped by people who are interested, and usually people are very excited to hear that there is a Morris Minor Club in Port Elizabeth.”

"I’ve found that through the years of restoring these cars, my passion for them has grown.”

In honour of William Morris’ first car, the club is organising the birth of the Morris Minor in December, and they are calling on all Morris owners to contact them and join in the celebration.

Clark’s contact number is 081-270-5545, secretary Amelia Buchner is on 079-490-0748 and treasurer Van Jaarsveld can be contacted on 083-561-0038.