Morris Owners Club - South Island, New Zealand.
Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 9:22 am
Hello all.
As a person who never joins clubs, I have made a departure from tradition and joined the local Morrie club here in Christchurch, NZ.
It all started because a friend who restored a Marina ute was a member, and I got invited to join a club run.
Most of the members were older than me - or acted it - so I did not feel threatened at all.
I figured they needed a 'hoon' to keep them honest, so I did the decent thing and signed up.
I duly received a badge and a few other bits, and yesterday was the first club run subsequent to me actually becoming a bona fide member.
I was somewhat perplexed when they said that - as it was going to be quite an extensive event, you could bring your 'modern car'.
?
My Marinas are my modern cars.!
Sue and I showed up in her 2 litre Mk3 auto, and initially followed Zeb in his 1800 Mk1 estate. I was amused in that he drove it a lot faster than his beloved Mk3 ute, which also features 1800 power these days. I guess when you buy an estate for $300 (peanuts..), you don't tend to worry about it as much.
We cracked along at 70 odd mph as we were well behind the bunch.
Somewhere out of the city he stopped and gave his apologies, as he had to cut his day short due to other commitments.
We continued and eventually caught up with the other club members - most of whom we didn't know.
Called in to an ancient Morris dealership in a town called Cheviot - Morris Minor in the showroom, and the owner had photos of brand new Marinas in that same place. They were Australian models, and according to him, they 'went like stink.!'
There's a fact you don't hear from the motoring public of the day.
Took some nice pics in that old garage..
had lunch in the local domain, where autumn was doing its wonderful thing...
.. then we joined the group for a bit of a thrash along the coast. We were the only Morris by now, and the choice of vehicles ranged from Saab and various 4WD's to a late model Honda coupe. The Honda chap seemed to want to be the boss, and took the lead. We kept a respectful distance, but eventually the sealed roads gave way to a long stretch of gravel.
A number of cars paused, as if undecided as to whether they should travel this way, so I jumped them all and attached myself to the tail of the Honda.
We then slid our way gloriously through about 30 miles of rather wet and difficult narrow roads, with the Marina permanently glued to the bum of the Honda.
At the next stop, the various 4WD's and the Saab caught up, and they all seemed rather amazed that the Marina was giving the 'boss' a hard time.
Frankly, I think they've spent too long around Morris 10's and Minors.!
The Marina is a very underrated car - even amongst members of the Morris club - so it is going to be extremely interesting to see what happens next time out.
Admittedly we had 2 litres under the bonnet, but its still a bleedin auto, and that can be a handicap on gravel roads.
I'm beginning to enjoy this.
Will keep you posted - they are all very nice chaps of course - but maybe they have lead sheltered lives..
Kilroy
As a person who never joins clubs, I have made a departure from tradition and joined the local Morrie club here in Christchurch, NZ.
It all started because a friend who restored a Marina ute was a member, and I got invited to join a club run.
Most of the members were older than me - or acted it - so I did not feel threatened at all.
I figured they needed a 'hoon' to keep them honest, so I did the decent thing and signed up.
I duly received a badge and a few other bits, and yesterday was the first club run subsequent to me actually becoming a bona fide member.
I was somewhat perplexed when they said that - as it was going to be quite an extensive event, you could bring your 'modern car'.
?
My Marinas are my modern cars.!
Sue and I showed up in her 2 litre Mk3 auto, and initially followed Zeb in his 1800 Mk1 estate. I was amused in that he drove it a lot faster than his beloved Mk3 ute, which also features 1800 power these days. I guess when you buy an estate for $300 (peanuts..), you don't tend to worry about it as much.
We cracked along at 70 odd mph as we were well behind the bunch.
Somewhere out of the city he stopped and gave his apologies, as he had to cut his day short due to other commitments.
We continued and eventually caught up with the other club members - most of whom we didn't know.
Called in to an ancient Morris dealership in a town called Cheviot - Morris Minor in the showroom, and the owner had photos of brand new Marinas in that same place. They were Australian models, and according to him, they 'went like stink.!'
There's a fact you don't hear from the motoring public of the day.
Took some nice pics in that old garage..
had lunch in the local domain, where autumn was doing its wonderful thing...
.. then we joined the group for a bit of a thrash along the coast. We were the only Morris by now, and the choice of vehicles ranged from Saab and various 4WD's to a late model Honda coupe. The Honda chap seemed to want to be the boss, and took the lead. We kept a respectful distance, but eventually the sealed roads gave way to a long stretch of gravel.
A number of cars paused, as if undecided as to whether they should travel this way, so I jumped them all and attached myself to the tail of the Honda.
We then slid our way gloriously through about 30 miles of rather wet and difficult narrow roads, with the Marina permanently glued to the bum of the Honda.
At the next stop, the various 4WD's and the Saab caught up, and they all seemed rather amazed that the Marina was giving the 'boss' a hard time.
Frankly, I think they've spent too long around Morris 10's and Minors.!
The Marina is a very underrated car - even amongst members of the Morris club - so it is going to be extremely interesting to see what happens next time out.
Admittedly we had 2 litres under the bonnet, but its still a bleedin auto, and that can be a handicap on gravel roads.
I'm beginning to enjoy this.
Will keep you posted - they are all very nice chaps of course - but maybe they have lead sheltered lives..
Kilroy
Country Morris dealers must have sold quite a few 6-cylinder Leyland Marinas in 1974/75. Would have been a good "economy" choice for farmers during the first oil shock, compared to the big Holdens and Falcons.