Ashley talks to a classic car enthusiast who could be driving a Porsche Carrera or a Range Rover but, instead, uses a Morris Minor as her daily driver

Although Karen Bell obtained her driver’s licence as soon as she was able, like most young girls she was never all that interested in cars. They were just a method of getting from A to B — although, of course, they also represented freedom. Her first car was an early Toyota Corolla coupe followed by a trusty VW Beetle, and then a Sigma station wagon. The Sigma was a top-of-the-line GL with all the bells and whistles, but it was the car’s practicalities that came first. She could fit her artist’s easel and large Doberman, Jessie, in the back easily.

However, once she became involved with her husband-to-be, Bob, she was introduced to the world of classic cars. Although she admits that after one swap meet — during which she spent most of the time sketching — and one trip to the Adelaide F1 GP, she’d had more than enough of the classic car and motoring scene.

Since settling in Kaikoura with Bob, Karen has established herself as an accomplished artist, displaying much of her work in the couple’s own gallery, Homewood Hill Art Gallery, which is located on their property. Upstairs in the studio, Karen devotes much of her time teaching art to local school students and adults, and creating her own paintings for display and sale.

Choosing a Traveller

It didn’t take long for Karen to dislike driving either of their Range Rovers, as she felt that the instrumentation was too complex and the off-roader was far too big for her to manage. Bob’s Porsche Carrera wasn’t an option either, as she felt too

conspicuous driving the iconic sports car around Kaikoura.

As she had left her much loved Sigma back in Australia, the solution was for her to have her very own car, rather than drive one of Bob’s large collection.

Karen quickly drew up a short-list of possibles — a Citroën 2CV, Renault panel van (she had seen a battered old one in France and fallen in love with its apparent practicality) or a Morris Minor Traveller. These choices being made by a person who didn’t like driving conspicuous cars!

After researching the internet on a fairly regular basis to see what was available, Karen finally settled on a Traveller, although there was a brief love affair with a beaten up Renault R4 that came up for sale in the North Island — but the logistics and costs of getting a non-running car to the South Island proved too much. As luck would have it a friend very much involved in the old car scene in Christchurch knew of a recently restored 1970 Traveller that might be available.

Apparently, the Minor’s owner was soon to take delivery of his latest classic treasure, and it seemed that he was going to have space problems (where have we heard that before). A deal was quickly negotiated, and the Morris was soon heading towards its new home in Kaikoura.

Best-loved variant

Looking at Karen’s car, it’s not hard to believe that the Traveller is one of the best-loved variants of the Morris Minor, which was first introduced in 1953. It was equipped with the same independent torsion bar front suspension, drum brakes and rack and pinion steering as its saloon sibling and is just as pleasurable to drive. With its foldable rear seat increasing versatility, Karen finds it easy to carry her easels and the family dog wherever she goes.

When designing the spacious Traveller, Alec Issigonis showed significant skill when working with timber. The Traveller featured an external, structural ash timber frame for the rear bodywork, clad with aluminium panels and fitted with two, side-hinged van-like rear doors. The doors are glazed with flat glass, which made production relatively simple.

The wood frame was varnished rather than painted and remains a highly distinctive feature of the Traveller’s body style. The design simplicity is encouraging for DIY restorers today, who are frequently faced with the otherwise painstaking task of removing rot and woodworm from Travellers. The Minor hung on until 1972 when the last car, a Traveller, was made at Cowley in Oxfordshire.

Innovative design

In actual fact, the Morris Minor was a hit from the first day it was shown to the British public in 1948 at that year’s London Motor Show. Designed by Issigonis in the mid ’40s, the Minor boasted a contemporary, unit-constructed body, torsion bar front suspension, rack and pinion steering and a low centre of gravity achieved by using small 133mm size tyres on 14-inch wheels.

Issigonis’ innovative design was state-of-the art for small cars at that time, and was years ahead of the pre-war engineering that could be found under most of its rival European economy cars.

Along with four-seat convertible and saloon variants an estate version was introduced — this being, of course, the Traveller. It followed Morris’ naming tradition for estates; the Traveller moniker also appearing on the Mini. The Minor came in van and pick-up versions, too. In 1962 the Morris Minor 1000 was upgraded with the more powerful 1098cc engine to provide better performance and more relaxed cruising. The final improvements were made in 1964, and were confined to a two-spoke steering wheel, revised seats and switchgear and the replacement of the pull-start button with a combined starter/ ignition switch.

Popular classic

As an everyday car, the Morris Minor makes a lot of sense. Unlike most classic vehicles, you can keep these little cars running almost indefinitely as virtually every part you will ever need is cheap and plentiful. That’s probably why Minors are still so popular today.

Morris Minors and 1000s are amongst the best loved classic, family-sized cars around today, and the continuing affection for the ‘Moggie’ as it is warmly referred to in Britain, or ‘Morrie’ as it is often known in Australia and New Zealand, is reflected in the number of restored and improved Morris Minors currently on the road today.

Ironically, Bob reckons that Karen now creates a darn sight more attention in her pristine little ‘woody’ than she ever did in the Range Rover or the Porsche. The Morris is an absolute magnet to tourists, who always want to get their photograph taken standing next to it — not to mention the comments from older people who want to stop her and share their stories about when they owned their own Morris Minor way back when.
It even brought back fond memories for me when I drove Karen’s Traveller — I owned three Morris Minors as a young teenager when I was at school and first started work. Everyone, it seems, has their own Morris Minor story.

Words: Ashly Webb   Photos: Sean Graig