Here is my 1966 Morris Minor 1000 convertible. The paint scheme is Old English white, which is actually a light gray, and the upholstery is British Racing green. As I understand it, no convertibles were assembled in New Zealand, but there was one shipment of them on its way to South Africa that was diverted to New Zealand mid-ocean due to unrest in South Africa. Suffice it to say, convertible Morris' aren't common here. It is also possible that the car was a two door sedan that was made into a convertible, which was easy to do, and kits were available to accomplish it.

The engine now has an MG Midget head on it that has been ported and fitted with bigger valves. It also has an after-market manifold and two SU carbs instead of the usual single. In addition I installed a tuned exhaust header, and the combination is quite lively, though the car could use another gear, as it starts to wind pretty tightly at 80 mph. The wheels are off a Morris Minor delivery van and are an inch wider than the ones that came on the car. These allowed for slightly wider radial tires which make the car handle better at speed without altering the car's appearance radically.

The thing was a real pig. When we jacked it up at the body shop the jack went right through the sub-frame cross-member. Then I stripped it to bare metal outside my friend's shop and discovered how much of the car was made of Bondo. What a mess. It has taken 10 years to put the thing back to original, but it turns heads now. Of course, that was ten years of coming over here for a few months a year, and some years I didn't do much.

Surprisingly, women love it now, and come up and talk to me about it all the time. They think it is "adorable" and they know I'm harmless I suppose.  But to think I wanted a Corvette in high school. Little did I know. Jim Richardson