# Have you ever owned a Morris 1000 Traveller



## sallytrafic

Seeing how many people on another thread have said that their first vehicle was a Morris 1000 Traveller - the half timbered car. I have started a poll - feel free to add comments as it will keep the poll alive.

Note mini travellers other shooting brakes and the like do not count.


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## thehutchies

Our family had one.
Every year it took Mum, Dad, Aunty Alice, 5 kids, 2 frame tents and all the camping gear from Cheshire to Scotland.
Fortunately, I don't really remember the journey as I was too young.
I do remember the metallic green Hillman Hunter estate, though.......


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## SidT

I was just about to click on "yes" when I read your first post. Shirley made me give up my Triumph Tiger 110 and Watsonian double adult sidecar and we bought a Mini Traveller, brilliant car, loved it.
Cheers Sid


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## 92859

*minor 1000 Traveller*

Greetings,

I remember in my motor trade days, I bought an old 1970 Traveller which had been beaten up a bit and I spent a few months rebuilding it, my panel beating skills were put to the test, then my cellulose paint spraying skills, at the end of it a smart little car that we run for some time before moving it on.


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## dilly

Never owned one or wanted to, always made me laugh when I saw one on a roundabout with a collapsed front wheel , a lack of maintenance on the kingpins i think.

ian.


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## Bruno

We owned a 1956 Morris 1000 Traveller from 1962 to 1973, great car carried our three children everywhere. When we sold it we retained the registration number which was three letters and one number, this has been on all our vehicles since then. Would not want to own one now.

Ray and Sandra


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## suedi_55

I can remember when I was child my uncle had a green one.
Not so long ago I spotted one with the letters SUE in the registration plate. Oh how I wished it was mine!!!!
Sue.


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## Don-Tucker

I used to love them,I rebuilt three of them including the ash wood,used to turn them on their sides on the grass to weld underneath.Great stuff
Don


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## motorhomeviews

*Morris 1000 traveller*

We worked and lived in Zambia in the late sixties and early seventies. Our first car there was a green morris 1000 traveller. We used to put my daughter in her carry cot in the back, it was brilliant. Surprisingly though even in Africa the vehicle suffered from corrosion , had to weld repair the bottom on a few occasions.
When we sold it advertised in the times of zambia, a guy came from hundreds of miles away to buy it.


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## aultymer

> Never owned one or wanted to, always made me laugh when I saw one on a roundabout with a collapsed front wheel , a lack of maintenance on the kingpins i think.


There was plenty to laugh about then. No MOT for a start - but 60mph was considered fast and if you got 60,000 miles from an engine, without major work, you were doing well.

On the Minor and 1000 the top ball joint was supported by the shock absorber arm (it wasn't a cylinder s/a like most). The shock absorber was held in place by 4 bolts - if these were allowed to slacken they would shear. The wheel then fell inward at the top until the square shock absorber unit came against a handy support. It was possible to drive for miles with this loose ( I know, I got mine home ). Not something you would get away with today.

I got my kicks in those days laughing at Ford drivers trying to start their lumps if it was cold and damp.
On Anglias it was the bottom swivel joint that just wore thru and broke. No way home then.

Never aspired to a 'woody' but had a convertible Minor and a black 1000 for a few years - hence the experience.


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## linal

Hi sorry Frank pressed for more than 1 didn't read post properly I have had 1 traveller & 1 morris 1000.

Alex.


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## 107088

I blew one up once, as in....booom....not seized up engine.


best thing that happened to it...them and the original Mini. good enough when they were new, but carried on far beyond their sell by date.


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## exmusso

*Morris Traveller*

Not one of my better experiences but swapped a Mk 9 Jag plus a Morris Oxford for a Traveller and a Standard 8 van.

Chassis on Traveller was rotten (wood was OK)and steering on Standard van was very stiff with no castor action. Made for an interesting drive zig zagging along the road. Traveller was too far gone to weld.

Also had a split screen 1954 Minor with the ohv rather than side valve engine. It was a lovely little car.

Cheers,
Alan


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## Spacerunner

I had one, my second car, the first was a 'sit-up-and-beg' Ford Anglia.

Loved the Morris Traveller thought we were royalty in it. 
When the front floor fell out I traded it in for a 'sharky' Ford Anglia.


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## 107088

Ah, now, the Anglia. Nice little car, I didnt have the sit up and beg, but I had the 1200 super with the angular rear window.

My mate bought it from me, and he put classic struts and brakes on it, and stuffed a 1500GT engine in the front.

Now, this gave amazing performance, probably the same as a 1.0 litre nova today....


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## chrisblack

a friend of mine is just completing a tour of ireland in a morris traveller - I think 5 set off.

i'm not sure how they are doing - I couldn't meet up due to work commitments.

I think details are on his website.

www.alexholden.net

chris


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## mangothemadmonk

What did they call them? 

The Tudor Estate car   

Johnny F


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## chasper

Yes COU 644C rose taupe > Great little car wish i still had it!


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## Seeker

I had a mini-traveller that took four of us plus tents etc to Scotland (from Ilford) in 1969.

When the footwells rusted through I used alloy litho printing plates to patch them up. Bet they're all that's left of it now.

Harry


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## 100127

Just found an old piccy of mine. Taken July 1977. As you can see, they always needed work on them.


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## CatherineandSteve

dilly said:


> Never owned one or wanted to, always made me laugh when I saw one on a roundabout with a collapsed front wheel , a lack of maintenance on the kingpins i think.
> 
> ian.


Hi all,

I fondly remember one summer in the 70's when leaving the local beach carpark with my parents one sunny afternoon there was an almighty klunk from the front end then seeing the wheel running down the road :roll: :lol: 
Apparently the recovery man made a comment about this being the kingpin a regular fault on the morris minor.

Regards Steve


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## waz

We have had 3 over the years. One we went touring in Scotland with a nackered battery, 2 turns on the handle and away she went. Funny thing is people who never owned one said they where worth a lot of money but I never got more that £300 for one of mine 
Waz


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## suedi_55

I can remember my uncle having one was I was younger.
Although I have not seen it for a while , there was one being driven around the area I live, in very good condition. 
It had my name on its reg plate. SUE
I really wanted that car!!!!!!!

Sue.


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## Rapide561

*Morris*

Hi

I have never owned one but am having images of mid wives and so on driving one, but I don't know why!

Nurse Gladys had a Morris on "Open all Hours". It was not the Traveller though.

Russell


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## 96706

I learnt to drive on a Morris Minor - reg PMM 99. Still had the little arm indicators which Dad eventually had converted to flashers. Then, after I was married, we had another Morris 1000 - a souped up one, although the only indication of that was the ridiculously tall aerial. I used to drive it to work across London and had fun racing posh cars away from traffic lights as it looked so staid and slow but wasn't!!! Then some years later we bought a Traveller. The woodwork was pretty grot and in fact when my son was young he opened the rear door and it came away in his hands. From then the only thing holding the door to the body was the door latch 8O In the "hurricane" of 1987 a flying roof tile dented the bonnet and shortly afterwards the poor old car was left to vegetate as we couldn't afford the work to get it MOT'd. Eventually someone knocked on the door and asked if he could buy it. I think we sold it for £50. He probably made a fortune on it and I hope he did - I wonder when I see a green restored one whether it could be ours, but I can't remember its reg. Oh the joys of sticking starter motors remedied by a starter handle, no synchromesh on first gear, no reversing lights, in fact not much of anything :lol: 

Mrs. D


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## CliveMott

I learnt to drive in one, it was my mothers. (She was not my teacher!)

I always remember my mums excuse when she stuffed it into the front of a gritting lorry. She said " It was icy and I was going along not very fast, the road was straight. Then this lorry appeared so I thought I had better slow down so I pressed the brakes and my car slid into the front of the lorry that had already stopped" It was not my fault.

Beat that for female logic!

(Sorry girls)


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## maddie

:lol: brings back memory's,I had a green one.When we were apprentices our boss bought a pick up one and we travelled in the back for 2 yrs (made a wooden cover for winter) covering 72,000 miles with the only thing needed out of servicing (which we had to do)was a fan belt . :lol: :lol: 
terry


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## Valian

My first car (1969....£40) was a grey Morris Minor 1954 convertible, so I'll have to say no to the Traveller question. Roof didn't work so we carried a golf umbrella in the back and stopped when it rained. Replaced the engine and gearbox (with ones bought for £4 from a scrapyard) in a layby off the A17 in 1970 when a piston rod broke while on holiday. Nowadays I can't look under the bonnet of our Saab without getting frightened by all the stuff I don't recognise...........


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## SpeedyDux

You posh lot. 

I couldn't afford a Traveller - just a Van version. Room in the back for a mattress, so it became a student passion wagon / semi-camper.

The van was often unreliable. Thankfully when I bought it there was a spare used gearbox in the back, because reverse was on the way out. 

Only 1 of the 4 brakes worked reliably which made stopping interesting. The fuel pump had a neoprene diaphragm that failed periodically because neoprene degrades in petrol. You would have thought that Morris might have changed the material used in the fuel pump diaphragm at some point in the production life of the vehicle, but oh no, too much trouble, obviously. 

Yes, the front suspension collapsed too. Typical Minor. And the footwells rusted through so I pop-riveted in some aluminium when I got tired of seeing the road and the seat became too wobbly. 

Ah, those were the days. I sold it for more than I paid for it.


SD


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## Broom

Hi All

I have had two, plus a mini traveller, the wife has had one too, perfect for fishing just chuck the gear in the back.

Happy days, the last one I think was a 1964 model.

Best Regards
Broom


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## patman

I had a traveller, a saloon and a van over the years. I've had the bonnet catch come undone and the bonnet disappeared behind me, the front wheel collapse and turn underneath the car and the brake master cylinder was inside the chassis and the floor had to be cut away to get at is. When the windscreen started letting in water I just drilled a hole in the floor to let it out. Quality cars.

Patman


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## 104477

I voted no!
my older brother was knocked off his bicycle by one whilst returning from a Blackberry picking ride, the resulting mess caused a lot of panic, though he, thankfully, was just bruised a bit. 
This, however, is not the reason for not having one or the family having one. It is more to the point that Dad who obtained his car and motorcycle licences whilst in the Royal Engineers only applied to transfer the Motorcycle licence to a "civvie" one as he never believed he would be able to afford a motorcar!
So being brought up with sidecars and Reliant (not that they were!) three wheelers, I went for Transit vans (bigger payload, and more reliable) BUT do have a strange soft spot for the plastic pigs of the motor world.
Confused? Then join the club.
The best thing about the Traveller is the Ash woodwork, then again I'm a Joiner and have a regard for wood. :wink: 
Rob.


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## motorhomeviews

*Points good and bad*

The good points



Easy to start engine with handle
Easy to maintain Engine . Change for replacement engine in under an hour.
Same goes for the gearbox.
Good pasion wagon. Needed somewhere to go in the 60's.

Bad points

 
Rusted quicker than you could fix it.
Wheels fell off.
Starter motor failed to engage
SU carburettor jets constantly blocked.

trev Any more issues?


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## devonidiot

I never owned one, but, as with the rest of the population of Britain, I knew a man who did


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## joedenise

did not have a traveller but a moggy minor 1951 wasn't first car that was a sit up and beg ford popular great car even if with a bump start would run backwards


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## wobby

I don't but my business partner over in Ireland does, I used to drive a Morris 1000 van when I was 19, it was awful. 

Wobby


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## teensvan

Hi.

My first car back in 1967 was a split screen 1953 MM with the 1000cc engine in it . Great little car and sold it 2 years later for double the money i paid for it. We then got a woody in 1973 which took us all over the uk on camping holidays for the next 5 years. I did have to do a fair bit of welding on it and it ended up in the scrapyard. One bit of luck the wheels never fell off. My best mate also had a woody and we were out in it one winter evening when the rear N/S wing fell off. This was easily fixed by nailing it back to the woodwork. They don't make cars like that any more.

steve & ann. ---------------- teensvan.


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## peejay

I've never owned one but back in the 70's the RAF driving school at St Athan used moggie travellers for driver training.
They also had an old one that it used on the skid pan and was deliberately fitted with bald tyres. 
It was where I first learn't what to do in the event of a skid. 
Great fun, that one did have a few dents though 


Pete


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## Penquin

My second car (after and Austin A35), started Steel Blue, repainted using Household White Gloss Paint from Woolworth's - that lasted years and looked brilliant.

Had reconditoned engine put in in Sydenham, the crankshaft on that broke after 150 miles - that did make a noise! Engine rebuilt by dealer (!), lasted 7 years, put towbar (homemade) on back to tow boat - brilliant little car.

Heater appalling, wife (gf then) climbed into sleeping bag in Exeter and got out at home in Beckenham, with heater going flat out - still had ice inside windows in winter! Had mushroom growing outside by wood/glass join.

Indicators fun - in middle of dashboard twist large switch either way for left / right as needed, no self-cancelling.

Mind you petrol was 6s 8d per gallon (34p) - used to get 40+ miles per gallon - tankfull was 6 1/2 gallons if I remember.

Simple car to work on - room to climb in to front end next to engine to work on it!

Took it to South France for summer, camping - brilliant except going down Ardeche - very long steep hill and brakes faded to zero before bottom - that was exciting but they cooled and recovered! French loved the car "avec le bois" - they had never seen such things (this was late 1960's early 70's).

Steering wheel very thin (and cold in winter - hard plastic), had furry leopard skin cover to go over it (and leather driving gloves).

Those were the days, wish we still had one but suspect they would not meet modern standards regarding emissions. Remember the fabulous noise from the exhaust on over-run as you took foot off throttle?


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## julie798

*car*

My first ever car  loved it, for a while :idea:


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