Tim gets all fired up and attends a ‘Minor’ call-out to experience a special little 1964 Morris Minor 1000 fire appliance
Here at NZ Classic Car I’ve covered a few old fire appliances over the last decade, ranging from a big Ahrens-Fox in an Australian museum to a working Land Rover fire engine in Haast, but I certainly wasn’t prepared to experience one so tiny as a Morrie Thou! What’s more, our featured fire appliance does actually get used by the Fire Brigade, albeit in an educational role.
I had spotted Terry Griffiths driving this Minor appliance during a Christmas parade a couple of years back, and have been quietly on his trail ever since. Recently, I caught up with the retired volunteer fireman at his home, not far from the little Oakura Fire Station, where we ‘shot’ the photos for this Minor story, before ‘burning’ them to disc!
Fire Desire
Terry Griffiths is a semi-retired oil industry consultant who has also been a volunteer fireman in Taranaki since late 1974, until recent retirement from that role. Born and bred in New Plymouth, Terry attended Vogeltown Primary School there, long before attending fires, but was always destined to end up behind the wheel of a big red machine. Over the years Terry has served on a range of now classic fire engines, built by Bedford, Commer-Karrier, Mitsubishi, Scania and even an open-cab ERF. Having used such big fire appliances in his past, I had wondered why Terry chose a comparatively diminutive 1964 Morris Minor 1000 on which to base his own wee version of a fire truck.
Lawson Hunter Motors
“I did my time on them”, Terry said. “Long before I was involved in the burgeoning Taranaki oil fields I was a mechanic, and I started out ‘doing my time’, as we used to say, at Lawson Hunter Motors and they were the BMC agent. I used to work on Morris vehicles all the time, along with Wolseleys, Rileys, and all that sort of thing. So, when it came time to build my own small fire engine for Fire Brigade promotion and fire safety education, I decided on a Morris Minor because I knew it would be so familiar to me to work on. The Morris Minor always takes me back to the days when things were simple and practical to work on.”
Once he had decided on a Morris Minor 1000, Terry kept his ears to the ground to see what would come up, preferably not too far from home. His ears must have been ‘burning’ because eventually a friend told him that he had heard of a Morris Minor ute sitting around in New Plymouth.
Terry investigated the old Morris and happily found that it wasn’t a flamin’ wreck, but fit for a minor transformation, and parked up with firewood loaded on the back. It had originally been a Morris Minor van, but later was professionally rebuilt as a well-side utility. Terry found to his pleasure that the old Morris ran well and even today, a few years since the fire engine make-over, Terry still hasn’t had to rebuild the engine. However, he did tell me that an engine overhaul is expected to occur someday and that he is more than prepared to do this, based on his early life experience with the 
aforementioned BMC products.
When Terry had decided upon the layout of his proposed Morris Minor fire appliance, he sent it to Wayne Gray Panel & Paint in the Waiwakaiho valley, and it was stripped, the doors and bonnet coming right off for close attention.
Educational Fire Safety Prop
Wayne Gray ordered the correct fire engine red paint for the little machine, managing to procure it at cost as the Morris was destined for use as an educational fire safety prop. The local Oakura Fire Brigade also donated $300 towards the project, for the same reason.
“I’ve been known as a bit of a bludger,” Terry said, “but when it came to the Morris Minor, everyone involved knew what it was for and how it could be useful, especially in schools, and so help was never far away. The ladder on the back came from a decommissioned fire appliance in Wellington that had been recently pensioned off. I also managed to get a completely new siren, with three different emergency tones.
“Apart from donations and the thorough work by Wayne Gray, I had good help from the late Trevor Kemsley and also from Jim Priest. Trevor was a whizz with the electrical work, wiring up all of the various things, such as the fire service light on the roof which plugs into a cigarette lighter type of connection, down behind the seats.”
I asked Terry how he had acquired that old 1958 brass fire extinguisher on the rear. “That’s from Australia!” he answered, “when I was working in the 
oil industry over there I was a member of a bowling club, and one day while we were having a working bee, and they were using my Toyota ute to cart stuff away, while cleaning out the shed — well, amongst what was being thrown out to go to the dump were two brass hand-held extinguishers so home they came! One’s down stairs all polished up and this one, now slightly tarnished again, is of course on the back of the Morris. As for the back end, where the extinguisher is mounted, that piece was all fabricated by Meco Engineering in New Plymouth, after I removed the old tailgate. The hoses on top fool a few people too, but they aren’t even fire hoses. They were once suction hoses from off the Maui oil rig platform that used to sit off the coast of Taranaki.”
Squirting the Disrespectful
Trevor also informed me that the helmets attached to the side of the Morris are old out-of-date fire service helmets that were, once again, donated. Despite appearances, the only water that this little fire appliance pumps out is through a little window washer nozzle, mounted on the side of the Morris, just behind the driver’s door.
“That’s in case I’m in a parade and someone is a bit cheeky or disrespectful, and so I give them a squirt from the nozzle as I pass by — or I might do it for fun on a hot day.” That would hose them off, I thought.
It was indeed a hot day when I met Terry, and went for a ‘burn’ in his bright red Morrie Thou. In fact, we were basically ‘trickling’ along, enjoying the simple pleasure that all Morris Minor owners seem to tell me about, where life moves at a quiet pace, without high pressure. The BMC A-series engine, long renowned for its longevity and trustworthiness, was easily up to the mark as Terry tootled through Oakura with your scribe on board, finding no 
cause at all to make any incendiary remarks about the little Morris and its performance.
The 48bhp (36kW) available is adequate for the little Morris to perform its duties admirably, with the 1098cc engine, with its single SU carburettor able to rev fully right up to 5100rpm if required.
It is more than well documented that Sir Alec Issigonis designed the Morris Minor 1000, originally as the side-valve 918.6cc low-light MM model released for sale way back in 1948.
One wonders what he would think of his original peoples’ car being turned into an educational safety device, in the guise of a miniature fire engine. He’d agree it’s a good idea, I would think!
Terry’s Morrie Fire Lorry is well received by youngsters at schools and along with adults at various civic parades around Taranaki. New Zealand still has a horrendous record of both children and adults meeting their deaths because of a lack of attention to basic fire safety, or failing to fit fire alarms. If Terry Griffiths and his humble but charming Morris Minor can make a difference and raise our level of fire safety awareness, then this classic vehicle is earning its keep effectively.
“Look out Bay Of Plenty,” advised Terry, in his parting words — “as soon as we sell our house here in Oakura, we’re off to live in the ‘Bay’ and I intend to have the Morris out on the job over there! I’m also going to build it an MG — a Morris Garage!”
Terry is all aflame for his shift to the other side of the North Island, where our BOP readers and their young progeny can enjoy the fun of a ‘Minor call-out’ at parades and carnivals.
Thank you Terry and helpers, for literally adding humour and colour to the serious issue of fire safety.
Words & Photos: Tim Chadwick
This article is from Classic Car issue 220. Click here to check it out.
