In 1928, William Morris announced a new small car, his answer to the Austin Seven: the Morris Minor, fitted with an overhead-cam 847cc engine developed by Wolseley. In addition to a four-seater tourer and four-seater saloon there was a two-seater ʻSemi Sportsʼ, but this was only listed for a year. “About a dozen Semi Sports are known to have survived,” says Ian Grace, who runs The Vintage Minor Register that caters for all pre-war Morris Minors.
James Spiteri from Cornwall has recently unearthed a modified 1931 Semi Sports. “It had been owned by my grandfather-in-law, Dick Mattless, since the mid-1950s,” says James. “Sadly, he passed away in December from COVID-19 at the age of 95. It was used as the family car and each of his three daughters had it at their weddings. It was last registered and taxed in 1981.”
The car has a boat-tail rear end, here made from sheet metal, with a dickey seat. It is presumed this was done when the original wood-and-canvas body became unserviceable. James has disinterred the car from the garage in which it had sat for 40 years. He was confused by the engine because it was not from a Morris, but the Rootes Archive Trust was able to confirm that it was from a home-market 1947 Hillman Minx, which also solved the puzzle of the incorrect wheels. The next challenge is to decide whether to restore it to its original condition, or just back to when it was the family car.
ESSEX SHED REVEALS A RARE WATFORD CHEETAH
After WW2, many enthusiasts wanted to own a sports car but couldn’t afford it, which led to the Specials boom of the 1950s with a number of businesses supplying kits of parts including bodies, initially for the Austin Seven and subsequently for the Ford 10. One such kit was made by Watford Sports Cars in 1959 under the name of Cheetah. The firm’s directors had cut their teeth at Tornado Ca
