OLD DESIGN STILL GOOD

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30561, 2 October 1964, Page 11

OLD DESIGN STILL GOOD

T’HE Morris Minor has been in existence in very much its present 3hape for 15 years, and during this time considerably more than a million of these small cars have been sold all over the world.

| But today the popular Morris Minor has, in dozens of small ways, been greatly improved from the models of even recent years. Bigger windows and better trim have given the interior a more open look and improved visibility. A bigger engine has improved performance, minor improvements have bettered the gearbox, and slight suspension changes and modern tyres have improved the handling. Compared to most modern cars, getting into the latest Minor 1000 four-door is. not particularly easy, the doors and door openings being airly small. Inside, the front seat passengers sit fairly erect on comfortable seats, and the rear passengers have just sufficient knee room but are a little short on instep room. Head room is generous in the front, and good in the rear. Finish

Interior trim on the test car was fair, and the general standard of finish was good. A heater, which did not work, was fitted, as were windscreen washers. Under the dash there is a full-width parcel shelf with a padded edge (there is no padding on the dash) and there is another small parcel shelf behind the rear seat The boot is not large by today’s standards, and the spare is kept under the luggage floor of the boot. Under the bonnet accessibility is generally good, although the distributor is on a slightly difficult angle for servicing.

The starter is a separate control from the ignition switch, but all switches are marked. The pedals are just sufficiently far apart, and they are at a reasonable angle to the foot and moderately light in operation. The bonnet line and scuttle seems fairly high, but the steering wheel is at a good angle. The Minor’s gear lever is floor mounted, and the movements are smooth but not particularly short. In second and reverse gears the driver’s hand comes in contact with the edges of the seat when moving the lever. There is no synchromesh on first gear, but the car will pull away from very low speeds in second without any fuss. Visibility Visibility is fair, but not good for parking, as the, rear of the car and the left wing are both invisible from the driver’s seat The wipers work at a moderate speed and leave a large uncleared V in the middle of the windscreen.

In the car tested the driver had the benefit of a hard sun visor mounted on a rather dangerous-looking steel bracket, but there was no such facility for the front seat passenger. Ashtrays are provided front and rear. There are two glove lockers, one on either side of the dash, but neither had lids and showed a tendency to deposit their contents on the laps of the front seat occupants. The instrument binnacle, which has a total mileage recorder, speedometer, fuel gauge and lights for oil and generator, is in the middle of the dash, where it is usually obscured by the driver’s left hand. A temperature gauge would be a good instrument for the new owner to add. The brakes are powerful at low speeds, and the clutch is light but fairly sudden. The steering, too, is light, but a considerable amount of reaction is felt from bumps in the road. Engine The handbrake is most efficient, and the new larger engine gives quite good acceleration for a car of this size. The engine is very smooth, particularly at high revolutions, yet remains very flexible. The ear is not quiet in the indirect gears, although it is not excessively noisy, but top gear is quiet, and when cruising at speed most noise comes from the road surface and the wind. On hills the Minor climbs well in third, which is also the best town gear. On bends, the handling is good and safe. Handling The handling is characterised by an early but fairly gentle oversteer, . which gradually increases until some opposite lock has to be applied. About this stage the inside rear wheel tends to lift The rear wheels show a considerable tendency to hop when irregularities in the road surface are encountered.

On tighter corners a line is easy to hold unless bumps are encountered, when the rear axle hops and throws the car off line, requiring some steering correction. On shingle the oversteer tendency is siightly emphasised, but the handling remains safe and surprisingly good considering the length of time this suspension system has been in use. Again, corrugation causes wheel hop. The Minor is as safe and manageable on fast corners as on slow corners, although once again bumps tends to throw it off line.

The brakes were light in the city, but in the fade test they started to fade quite early, pedal pressures then slowly increasing as travel also increased. Finally they started to pull, and faded almost completely. At the end of the test the handbrake would not hold the car

on a slight slope because of the severity of the fade. However the linings recovered quickly, and full braking was recovered in about five minutes. To sum up, the Minor 1000 is surprisingly good considering the age of the design. The handling is safe, the ride firm but comfortable, the noise level reasonable, and the performance quite brisk, providing proper use is made of the gears. The engine is a very willing and flexible little unit. All Minors now sold in New Zealand are English assembled, and the four-door version, as tested, costs £852, £453 sterling being required. The two-door version is £BO9, £431 sterling being required. Technical Engine: Four cylinders, overhead valves, bore 64.58 mm., stroke 83.72 mm., capacity 1698 c.c., compression ratio 8.5:1, output 48 b.hp. at 5100 r.p.m., net torque 601 b ft at 2500 r.p.m. Carburettor: S.U. carburettor, fed by electric fuel pump. Fuel tank capacity 6J imp. gallons. Transmission:' Hydraulically actuated clutch. Four-speed gearbox (synchromesh on second, third and top). Brakes: Hydraulic, drums all round. Suspension: Independent front suspension by long torsion bars. Semi-elliptic rear springs with rubber mountings. Steering: 16iin steering-wheel. Hack and pinion steering gearbox.