Holiday Motoring with a difference

By Stuart Johnston

A 1962 Morris Mini heads for Mossel Bay!

An original Mini that stood  untended for 35 years in a Pretoria shed has set off for a 1 200  km journey from Roodepoort to Mossell Bay this week. The 1962 Morris Mini Minor has been lovingly restored to near-original glory by its new owner, 71-year-old Tony Horner, who is driving ace-up on its maiden long-distance land-voyage.

“I’m going to take her easy and do the run in three legs,” said Tony just days prior to hitting the floor-mounted starter button on his 850 cc Mini. “I’ll stop over at family and friends in Bloemfontein, Graaff-Reinet and George, before taking part in the Mossell Bay Wheels Gathering, organised by arch-enthusiast Dirk van der Merwe, on December 16.

Tony acquired the Mini from long-time friend Alistair Cochran, who had parked the car all those years ago in 1981, after a move from Cape Town to Pretoria,   because the car had registration problems and oil leaks, and he had bought a Mini Van den Plas, a more powerful and upmarket model.  When Tony acquired the car in 2016, the 1962 Morris Mini Minor  was in a sorry state, riddled with rust, but the important aspect was that all the original bits and pieces of trim were there.

“It’s a 1962 De Luxe model Morris Mini Minor, but first registered in January 1963. One thing to remember is that this car was produced just three years after the original Mini was launched in 1959,” says Tony.

 Initially, in 1959, what we know as Minis today were badged as Austin Sevens, or Morris Mini Minors.  But, because everyone was calling these cute little cars “Minis”  in 1961 the Austin version was also  badged as an (Austin) Mini. In fact, the original owners’ book that Tony has with the car lists an Austin Mini, but the Austin and Morris  cars were identical excepting differences to the badging and the radiator grille pattern. It seems it was a case of BMC in Blackheath (South Africa) economising in those days, regarding the extra printing costs of Morris or Austin-specific handbooks!

This car, first registered as CA 112 605, was actually a birthday present to Tony from his wife, Monica, and their daughter,  when Tony turned 70 just over a year ago. Recovering from a serious motorcycle accident a few years ago, the restoration project was just the tonic that Tony needed to focus his considerable energies, despite his age of over seven decades.

“I had help from lots of people,” says Tony. He hoisted out the engine single-handedly, before taking it to Mini specialists, CARS, in Roodepoort . What they found upon stripping the tiny little 848 cc motor was that it had been mechanically overhauled prior to being stored, and had brand new pistons, rings and bearings and a slight re-bore to 20-thou oversize. The cylinder head had been re-done too and all the motor needed was a new gasket set!

The previous owner, Alistair Cochran,  had  installed a later-series Mini Clubman gearbox and diff  (the engine and gearbox are in one unit in the Mini, as is the diff) and this has given  Tony the benefit now, in 2017, of having a taller overall ratio, better for highway cruising. But the original engine is still fitted and the original body plates, from the Morris factory in Cowley, England, as well as the BMC South Africa assembly plate from Blackheath, Western Cape, are still present on the car. This makes it a sought-after matching-numbers car, of very early Mini production.

The body was not such a simple project, and this Tony entrusted to R&K Classics of Krugersdorp. An entire used Mk I Mini rear section was obtained from a scrap yard and the boot was replaced, as well as various panels in the front left mudguard section and the floorboards. This was all expertly welded in, and the entire body was sprayed in an original Mini red with Oxford white window-pillar trim and white wheels. The engine was resprayed in a green very close to the original Mini colour, and Tony polished  various items, including the small one-and-a-quarter-inch SU carburettor. He also detailed various other items such as the fluid reservoirs, and fitted new brake pipes throughout the car.

A new, larger 35-litre fuel tank, also from a Mini Clubman, was  fitted, as the original tank was badly rusted.

The front seats have been re-upholstered in a deep red to match the still-original red covering on the rear seat, and Tony has fitted a few extras, such as a gauge set that includes a fuel gauge (the new tank’s sender-unit wouldn’t work with the original, a water temperature gauge, an oil pressure gauge and a rev counter. Original Minis  came with just one gauge cluster – a  large central speedo which incorporated a fuel gauge, and  simple warning lights for other functions.

The car now sports brand new rubber on its 10-inch rims and a gurgling exhaust tone, thanks to a new exhaust system and larger diameter silencer. Apart from some period-looking driving lights, an AA badge that originally belonged to his father, and a few stickers (including one for Dez’s Minis of Alberton, the original source for this story), the car is pretty much stock.

There’s still not much space for crate-loads of luggage, and luckily Tony travels light (although his boot is crammed full of tools and a few spares, just in case!). He plans to cruise at 100 km/h, something the original Mini 850 was capable of, and at those speeds he should achieve an economy of around 7,5 to 8 litres/100 km.

“With the taller overall gear ratio, acceleration is not as good, but for what I want to do with this car, the longer ratio is much better on the open road,” says Tony. Of course, he’s not going to win any stop-light Grands prix with this car, as the original Mini 850s were rated at just 33 horsepower (that’s just 24,7 kW!) On the plus side, the original Minis weighed just 580 kg.

It’ll be great to see this 55-year-old car purring its way to Mossel Bay, with its owner enjoying each and every kilometre.