Morris Minor: The Biography: Sixty Years of Britain's Favourite Car

by Martin Wainwright

The split screen, the indicators poking up like orange fingers, the notoriously rust-prone floors, the pootling exhaust notejust some of the much-loved characteristics of the Morris Minor or Morris 1000. Designed by Sir Alec Issigonis back in 1948, this bulbous little creation was Britain's first mass-appeal car. By 1972 some 1.6 million were built. There were variants like the Morris Traveler (timber-framed estate) and the Morris Million (painted pink). For thousands of newly marrieds, or penurious students, it was their first car. It was also the kind of car in which the district nurse did her rounds. Martin Wainwright (who proposed to his wife over the gearstick of a Morris Minor) gives us a quirky and fascinating history of this quintessentially British car. You'll find everything from the post-70s vogue for restoring and rebuilding Morris Minors, to the alarming habit of their bonnets to open at speed and entirely obscure your vision, not to mention the esoteric photo exhibition devoted to abandoned Morris Minors on the West Coast of Ireland.

268 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2008

Reviews

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read, a meander through the history of an icon.

[Stuart Hill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Written by a former journalist this was a surprisingly dull account of the classic car, lacking insight into what would be of interest for the reader.

It starts off with the author's personal involvement with the marque which felt somewhat self-indulgent and a little cheesy. That is followed by an extremely pointless excursion where the author attempted to spot Minors on the road to see if they are still being driven. A quick search on the internet would surely have provided more useful information but instead the reader is subjected to passages which read like: 'I was driving along the A69 and on the turnoff to Birmingham I was sure that I had spotted a cream and white traveller'. Riveting stuff, indeed.

Thankfully after this dull beginning things pick up a lot when it moves on to the history of how the car was first created by designer Alec Issigonis and proved to be an immediate hit with press and public at the 1948 motor show.

Unfortunately this section was all too brief and the author moves on to interviewing Minor owners, car salesman and rallying fans etc. If you are a die hard Minor obsessive you might get something out of these but I found them mainly tedious, and the relentlessly middle class bias was wearing, despite the fact that one car salesman describes owners as being from all walks of life there was little evidence of this from the people interviewed for the book.

On the positive side the colour illustrations were very good quality and covered the full history of the car and varying models such as the traveller, police vehicles and post office vans.

In summary, for die-hard Minor obsessives only. I am sure that there must be better books than this on the subject.

[Mark Maguire · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an engaging and entertaining biography, concerned with the trials and tribulations of the World - renowned Morris Minor in the hands of the loyal and devoted British public. The narrative was light-hearted; informative, and relentlessly focused around the subject at hand - the Morris Minor.


The combination of individual life stories and the pivotal role played by the individual Morris Minor in that person's life, makes you realise what a classic design the Minor was. The stories demonstrate how a car can act as a loyal friend in good and bad times; how a common human trait has sought to inject character and life into the mechanical when flesh and bone lets us down, and how much the Minor is missed when it is sold on.

The book was light-hearted; amusing, and a worthwhile read which removed me from myself for a short while, which is what every book should be capable of doing.