Filed Under: News
The Traveller models were launched in the autumn of 1953 and continued in production until 1971. 2013 provides the opportunity to celebrate 60 years of the Traveller. Planning is well under way to mark this significant landmark in the history of the Morris Minor: 22 September 2013 is the date for all Traveller owners to put in their diary.
With a year to go to the event, assistance is needed to help coordinate a series of road runs from locations closely associated with Traveller assembly and production. Coventry and Adderley Park, Birmingham, along with Cowley and Abingdon in Oxfordshire are scheduled to be the starting points for four separate road runs all terminating at the Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon, Warwickshire where a special gathering of Traveller models will be prominently displayed as part of the Gaydon Autumn Classic event. The Autumn Classic is open to owners of all classic cars, but the MMOC will provide the centrepiece of the display area with a good representation of Travellers.
If you are interested in assisting with the organisation of any of the ‘Traveller at 60’ road runs, please contact Club Secretary Ray Newell. Contact details are in the current issue of Minor Matters
www.mmoc.org.uk
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The spring of 1913 saw the start of production of William Morris’s first car, the Morris Oxford, at the price of £175. The centenary of this major British motoring manufacturer will be celebrated in style. Planning has been ongoing for two years and a number of significant events are already well advanced.
The Morris Minor Owners Club will be hosting a major International Centenary event in conjunction with their National Rally. This will be held at Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire on the weekend of the 15th/16th June 2013. In addition, A major display of Morris Vehicles will be on show in a specially designated area at the Beaulieu Spring Autojumble and there will be a special Centenary Stand at the NEC in November 2013. Other clubs including the Morris Register and the Bullnose Morris Club will be staging major events as well.
www.morriscentenary.org.uk
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2013 will see the 60th anniversary of the Minor LCV, the Register is planning a 2-day event at Gaydon Motor Museum. It will be an all ticket event and places will be limited so keep coming back for more information, priority ticket applications to LCV register members. Adam Kent-Smith is the man making arrangements for further details you can contact the organiser Adam Kent-Smith
During the early 1980s the van was quite a common sight, still very much in use by the jobbing builder, electrician, etc., although most were in the further advances of the ‘well used category’. As time went on though, their sightings became rarer and rarer, and it is quite noticeable that into the 1990s, they have become very rare indeed, compared to saloons and travellers. The cult of the Morris Minor, which has been going for many years, had never really involved the poor old working vans and pick-ups, and consequently when the ‘general builders’ wanted their new Escort van or such like, the old trusty steed more often than not went straight to that great scrap yard in the sky! Only in the past ten years has a real and genuine interest emerged for the LCV, and now I do feel that there are many more, who are just ‘LCV nuts’.
You cannot really put a finger on why these wretched vehicles are so special, but they really are! I suppose that one of the main things with vans is that they need not be all the same. For many indeed were delivered ex works in primer, etc., and so their variation in colour schemes and logos were endless. Indeed now, one of the most pleasing sights around is a good condition, van/pick-up fully sign written and being used as an everyday working advert.
‘The Minor 1000 LCV Register’ was created by Dave Thomas specifically for all LCVs built from 1956 onwards, as Peter Hanby has, for many years now, run the Series II Register excellently. The Minor LCV Register is dedicated to the preservation, use, restoration, as well as the historical study of all Minor LCVs, Morris and Austin no matter what condition, concourse or just rough! If you have a Minor LCV then we are he club for you.