Original & NOS Part Resto/Rebuilt 948cc I4/Muppet Movie Cameo/Great Backstory

For consignment, a final project for a pair of brothers who grew up with the older one restoring dozens of Morris Minors, from Saloons, to Convertibles, Travellers and even a Van, but his favorite was a Traveller, because he was also a surfer!  This car was the final project due to his older restorer brother's untimely death.  It was also a car that has some prominence as it came from a dealer in Marina Del Rey, California.  It was researched and found that this particular car was owned by a woman who runs the Pebble Beach Concours, and upon close inspection verified due to wood grain comparison on the woody section, to have been in a Muppet Movie in 2011.  We give you a left had drive North American Series III with very low mileage.  Read on!

Exterior
The plot thickens!  The car was produced on May 4, 1959 with a Clipper Blue paint job, which over the years has been resprayed in several places yielding many panels without an exact color match.  The front left fender was the only panel replaced as it has an antenna hole drilled into it and began to rust, so a NOS part replaced it.  The oak wood is all original, solid and still in very good condition.  Chrome is all excellent and the car looks very much like it did the day it left the factory.  A bulbous hood, single chrome bezel headlight on each protruding fender, and a simple rounded over horizontal ribbed grille fronted by a curved bumper with rabbit ears on either side of the grille's edges.  Chrome for the windows is all good as is the original glass.  The interesting detail about the woody section on the back is that it is only used to frame the steel, and does not have the inset panels as most woodies do.  Panoramic glass is opening the entire back of the car for the sites to see, and the back of the Traveller has two swinging tall full back doors for access to the rear storage.  A split bumper is on the back below the doors.  For the wheels we see cream steel with small moon capped centers wrapped in Coker Firestone 155/R14 new rubber on all 4 corners. (Sorry Avons!)

Interior
As the story keeps going after the brother's passing, his surviving brother, (our consignor), and a group of friends got together to finish the project  in hopes of selling and giving the proceeds to his wife to help with finances.  So the work continued using all original or NOS parts to keep to the brothers mantra of “if you rebuild something, one should never be able to tell it has come apart in the first place”.  So we now have an example which is as close to factory as one will get.  As for this interior, it has been recovered at some point prior to our consignor and his brother's acquisition.  We see wonderful near neutral blue gray broadcloth covering the door panels.  The pull is a canvas strap, and shiny actuators and cranks are installed within this field.  Blue carpeting, (new Newton brand), covers the floors, and there is a new parcel shelf and glove box lining.  Simple vinyl in light blue with some wide tuck and roll going on for the buckets and a bench in back,  The dash is a blue full metal jacket and sports two glove boxes, some black pulls and knobs and a circular central speedo/fuel gauge/high beam, oil and IGN warning lights. The white faced gauge is courtesy Smiths, a British car staple.  A nice left hand drive banjo style steering wheel is on fronting the dash, and in the waaaaay back, the rear wagon-esque storage tray is lined with cream felting as is the headliner.  Wood window framing is also inside on the back portion of the car.

Drivetrain
Inside the completely restored engine bay, (as done by the perfectionist older brother over 7 years), we see pristine wiring, all new NOS, supple hoses, a like new radiator, and in the center a green painted non-original but correct 948cc 4 cylinder engine.  It has a single side draft SU 1-barrel carburetor and an original to the car 4 speed manual transmission with 4.55 rear axle.  All these aspects have been completely rebuilt and as the consigner states have about 500 miles on them.  

Undercarriage
Some patina and wear off of undercoating, but no rust in this underside environment.  New brake lines, front independent suspension with torsion bars, and rear leaf springs, as well as drum brakes are all buttoned up and looking solid and are in perfect working order!

Drive-Ability
As a lover of everything British I had to take this surfer car for a ride and it was worth the price of admission…Wait…Do I pay that?  Anyway it ran smoothly, shifted easily, and was nary a sound when I pushed it into a corner just to test the suspension for any complaints.  I noticed the odometer is inoperable and the consignor states this has not been so for very long.   Making mileage within 300 miles of readout.

What a story, done by an expert, and then by his brother, who watched in tutelage all these years, and a band of friends  now repaying the favor.  A great little car, with an even greater story.  Pay it forward.