Is the usage of old cars permitted following the easing of lockdown? It seems that the answer is ‘yes’, as long as they are being used to convey the individual(s) to an exercise destination. Alternatively, a trip to the post office, village food shop or supermarket also qualifies. There exist nothing in the guidelines relating to the ages of vehicles engaged in these activities.
Although lockdown has been eased slightly in England, it’s still very much in force across the rest of the U.K. If you are really keen to take a drive in your Minor, Midget or Hornet then it’s best to ensure that your car has wheels, an engine and at a stretch, a body. John Nagle doesn’t believe any of these ingrediants are vital, but making brum, brum sounds and grasping an imaginery steering wheel are definitely signs that things are getting desperate in Dorset.
The Network has had a continuous presence at the Spring Beaulieu event since 2009. In the early years Trevor Wilkinson and Chris Lambert manned the stall, even sleeping in the club gazebo on one particularly memorable, uncomfortable and very cold May weekend. From the look on stallholder Trevor Wilkinson’s face it was almost certainly the May 2010 event, the year this photo was taken. In more recent times Toby Sears has continued to fly the flag for the PWMN from his large stall in the Red field.
Mike Tebbett sent this photo of 1933 Morris Minor Saloon (VD 2631) which was taken on 8th May 2020, the 75th anniversary of the ending of the war in Europe. The car resides in Colwell, Worcs and is owned by Ian Wilson who purchased the car at a Brightwell’s auction in 2019. Meanwhile in Lymington, Hants Toby Sears had prepared his 1932 Morris Minor Two-seater (PJ 5155) for it’s VE Day Anniversary outing, by providing a suitable fine mesh mask, this despite the uncertainty around their effectiveness.
Despite being only partially rebuilt, Tony Gamble‘s Minor Arrow Special (driven by his son) is seen here attempting a passing manoeuvre along the main street in the village of Burn, North Yorkshire. In fact, this wasn’t a clandestine Minor outing at all and was a planned part of Tony (& wife Christine’s) recent property move of just a few hundred yards.
The current coronavirus lockdown means that much of our life is on ‘pause’ at the moment. That of course includes many of our leisure activities and in particular those involving our old cars – it’s difficult to justify any trip out as an essential journey when the vehicle of choice is ninety years old! So here is a reminder from 2009 of what we used to do in the early springtime. This photo was taken at the VSCC‘s Light Car Welsh Weekend on 28th March 2009. Here Sue Pimms (formerly Woodward) is about to leave section seven of the Sunday trial in her 1930 OHC engined Morris Minor Two-seater (BR 8606), but not before sharing a joke with the marshalls, one of whom is former Minor owner, Jeremy Evans. Happy days.
This Morris Minor Family Four-door Saloon (MYB 5060) left the Morris Motors Cowley plant in 1933 and was immediately exported. It’s destination was Bangalore in India where it has spent the last 87 years in the custodianship of one family. The car is now in the care of family member, Mrs Usha Devi, for whom we must thank for permitting member Kartik Lunia to pass the photographs on to us here. It’s quite possible that this is the only surving long-wheelbase Minor model in the sub-continent. The car is also an award winner as two of these photographs clearly indicate.
The PWMN’s 2012 Rally was based upon the New Forest National Park and was hosted by Toby & Linda Sears. It was also the first Network rally to be located away from the East of England. Rally HQ was situated at the Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum while the rally dinner was held in the Bistro Restaurant at the Hoseason’s Shorefield Park site. Here, on an overcast day, Andrew and Sue Batey in their 1934 Morris Minor Two-seater (BPB 357), pull into the Station House Tea Rooms in Tiptoe for a cream tea around 4:00 PM on Saturday 16th June.
The FBHVC’s annual Drive-it-Day event is usually a celebration of classic and vintage motoring. Not so in 2020, with Coronavirus lock-down regulations in place across the whole of the United Kingdom. While some made at least a token gesture of driving their historic vehicles out of their garages and into the brilliant spring sunshine, others, including members Chris Healey and Andy Brown kept the dust sheets on their Minors, while awaiting the easing of the current restrictions.