KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY
August’s article about BMC 1100s triggered happy memories of a car that played a huge part in my life. My first exposure was in 1963, as a schoolboy, visiting a garage to see the new Morris 1100. Having come from a pro-BMC family, this supersized Mini was a sensation.
For an 11-year-old petrolhead, the 1100’s ribbon speedo seemed magical, but dad wasn’t interested: he considered his well-worn Wolseley 1500 a much better car. However, I managed to talk my grandad into buying the Austin. You can imagine my joy when he asked me to pick the colour (Honolulu Blue, beige trim) and go with him to Longbridge to collect the car. A few years later I would go through those gates again to join the company as an apprentice.
Grandad cherished that car, and I always remember waving him off in heavy snow, knowing he would not get stuck due to the miracle of front-wheel drive. A few years later, after grandad had given up driving and passed the car on to my dad, it saved my life. Driving on a fast dual carriageway, a side impact threw me under the dash and, although the car was a write-off, we all survived.
Dad replaced Grandad’s old car with an Alaskan Grey 1100 that he kept from 1967 until 1984. I learnt to drive in that. It rusted as if there was no tomorrow, but my dad was a skilled sheet-metal worker and over its long life the car had a new subframe, sills, heelboard and wings. Even the windscreen pillars rotted.
Later I bought an 1100 from my uncle, and that car was better to drive than Dad’s. One night someone stole the tax disc; two nights later they came back and stole the car, but didn’t get far because they sheared the drive couplings trying to make a quick getaway. It would continually stop in heavy rain – WD40 on the distributor was the fix – and the rear compartment would fill with water.
The last time I drove an 1100 was in 1976, but your article brought it all back: the transmission whine, the way the rear raises on a hill start when you release the handbrake. I now realise what a revelation these cars were in their day. A Glacier White 1300GT on Minilites would be my car of choice, if ever the opportunity arose . Dave Handley
Redditch, Worcestershire
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