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Prisoner_Number_Six

(15,676 posts)
Thu Oct 2, 2014, 08:50 PM Oct 2014

Found a pic of an old car I bought in '74

This is a Morris Minor 1000cc 3 speed car. It was a legacy car- I was stationed on an Air Force base in England, and this car was passed from Airman to Airman as they came and went. I snagged it for a couple hundred bucks, installed a cheap stereo cassette player in it (damned car's electric system was backwards- it had a positive ground system and I had to wire the player in reverse) and began tooling around the English back roads. Me and my buddies had some great times in this tired old beast- it topped out at maybe 45mph, but that was okay. It was good enough to get us to the pub that was just off base, and to the fish and chips shop just down the road in Shefford.

Funny- it was easier for me to learn how to drive "backwards" on their roads than it was for me to come home and relearn the "right" way.

Great times. Great memories.

19 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Found a pic of an old car I bought in '74 (Original Post) Prisoner_Number_Six Oct 2014 OP
What a wonderful picture plus story, my dear Prisoner_Number_Six! CaliforniaPeggy Oct 2014 #1
Sweet... Blue_Tires Oct 2014 #2
Nice photo! Crewleader Oct 2014 #3
For some reason the Brits love positive ground A HERETIC I AM Oct 2014 #4
I had a '63 Austin Healey 3000 . . . brush Oct 2014 #15
I learned to drive in a Morris Minor. eppur_se_muova Oct 2014 #5
So- that wasn't just mine that did that? Prisoner_Number_Six Oct 2014 #6
Ha ha OxQQme Oct 2014 #7
A reverse reverse??? Prisoner_Number_Six Oct 2014 #8
That is so cool! pinboy3niner Oct 2014 #9
Those roadsters were notorious for their electrics Prisoner_Number_Six Oct 2014 #10
After the war I didn't expect to live long pinboy3niner Oct 2014 #11
Why do the English drink warm beer? hifiguy Oct 2014 #19
My first boy friend had a Morris Minor. mackerel Oct 2014 #12
Spoken like a true gearhead pinboy3niner Oct 2014 #13
must be..i gave a mini coop now mackerel Oct 2014 #14
The original Mini Cooper S . . . brush Oct 2014 #16
the one I'm driving now is surprisingly fast. It sneaks up on you, smooth ride. mackerel Oct 2014 #17
British cars The Wizard Oct 2014 #18

CaliforniaPeggy

(149,640 posts)
1. What a wonderful picture plus story, my dear Prisoner_Number_Six!
Thu Oct 2, 2014, 09:01 PM
Oct 2014

I love this picture. I hadn't known you'd been in England all those years ago. I know you had some good times...

It IS good to remember those, esp. when things are tougher now.

Thank you for taking us along...

A HERETIC I AM

(24,370 posts)
4. For some reason the Brits love positive ground
Thu Oct 2, 2014, 10:34 PM
Oct 2014

From what I understand, many manufacturers over the years did that.

Neat car though!

brush

(53,791 posts)
15. I had a '63 Austin Healey 3000 . . .
Mon Oct 6, 2014, 10:16 AM
Oct 2014

Last edited Mon Oct 6, 2014, 04:35 PM - Edit history (1)

back in the '70s, beautiful car, and it had positive ground also.

eppur_se_muova

(36,269 posts)
5. I learned to drive in a Morris Minor.
Fri Oct 3, 2014, 10:42 AM
Oct 2014

Was never in a wreck in it. But you know that, since I'm alive to type this.
Remember how the driver's seat tipped forward, with nothing to hold it in place but gravity ?

OxQQme

(2,550 posts)
7. Ha ha
Sat Oct 4, 2014, 12:25 AM
Oct 2014

Back in the mid 60's, a friend of mine had one of those. I had an Austin Mini. Both were positive ground. We got stoned one night and hooked up the battery backwards. We were convinced that the horn would suck, the headlights would put out black light, and the radio speakers would cause complete silence inside the car. And maybe the engine would run backwards and we'd have one forward gears and three reverse.

Prisoner_Number_Six

(15,676 posts)
8. A reverse reverse???
Sat Oct 4, 2014, 12:15 PM
Oct 2014

Whatever you were smoking, I want some!

I always thought it odd that the pedal placement was the same on their cars as ours- gas to the right foot and clutch to the left. It took me a few seconds to figure out how to shift smoothly using my left hand, and after that it was easy.

Driving that car gave me a safety habit I still use to this day- I always looked left, then right, then left again, then right again (or is that backwards? I can't see it anymore) before pulling out into traffic. Hell, I even do it while outdoors in my electric wheelchair!

pinboy3niner

(53,339 posts)
9. That is so cool!
Sat Oct 4, 2014, 12:35 PM
Oct 2014

A friend of mine who worked for the CIA in Vietnam during the early days of the war had his MG shipped there and that's how he traveled around the provinces (!).

The car I bought in the service was a '65 Pontiac LeMans convertible, white with red interior, that I bought from a used car dealer outside Ft. Benning.

After being wounded in VN and during a long hospitalization I bought a new '70 E-Type Jaguar roadster. All I can say is, I hope your car didn't have a Lucas electrical system--if you know what I mean...

pinboy3niner

(53,339 posts)
11. After the war I didn't expect to live long
Sat Oct 4, 2014, 01:20 PM
Oct 2014

One of the psychological effects. Not a premonition, just a subconscious sense that life would be short and I wouldn't live to see 30. So the recklessness of getting a Jag made sense at the time, in a perverse sort of way.

And I cracked it up in short order. Took a wrong turn driving back to the hospital and ran of the road when I suddenly encountered a closed gate. Luckily, the MPs who responded were led by a sergeant who was a friend of mine, because I was drunk at the time after visiting The Camelot bar in San Francisco.

Replacing the bonnet alone cost $2,000 in 1971.

One disapaintment was that the '70 Jag no longer had the cool shaped glass over the headlights. But I made up for it by installing a quad 8-track with 4 speakers.

 

hifiguy

(33,688 posts)
19. Why do the English drink warm beer?
Wed Oct 8, 2014, 01:52 PM
Oct 2014

Lucas refrigeration!

And then there are the SU carbs on old Brit sports cars. A nightmare come to life.

brush

(53,791 posts)
16. The original Mini Cooper S . . .
Mon Oct 6, 2014, 10:37 AM
Oct 2014

back in the day was a sheep in wolf's clothing as it had a Cooper racing engine in it (Cooper was a racing car company in the '60s and the original Mini Coopers won quite often on the rally circuit.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mini#Mini_Cooper_and_Cooper_S:_1961.E2.80.932000

A friend of mine had one back in the '70s and it was screaming fast. he regularly beat unsuspecting American muscle cars in impromptu, red light drag races because of it's light weight and racing-tweaked engine.

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