All Minors, no majors: Learning to drive in a 57-year-old Morris

There’s a Morris Minor fan near where I live. He has a Traveller on his drive and a saloon on the road outside that doesn’t appear to have moved for some time because there’s an eco system developing underneath it.

Then a few weeks ago, while cycling past Hampton Court Palace, I saw what looked like the saloon motoring along the A308 in the direction of the M3. An impressive turnaround in fortune for a car that, I suspected, might never run again.

Except this wasn’t that Morris Minor. This one was being driven by a young-looking lad who, from the presence of an L-plate front and back, appeared to be learning to drive in it.

A few days later, I spotted the car parked outside the local doctor’s surgery. Further detective work revealed that the blue 1968 Morris Minor 1000 is the pride and joy of father Ed Wilson and his son Patrick.

Patrick is 17 years old and has been learning to drive over the past four months. First, if you believe the mass media, no youngsters are learning to drive these days, and second, if they are, they’re not likely to be learning in a 57-year-old classic.

I found the sight of young Patrick in his Morris Minor rather heart-warming.

So, Ed, why isn’t junior learning to drive in something more modern? Something a bit more conventional like a Volkswagen Polo or Ford Fiesta? “Money,” says Ed. “At least that’s the primary reason.”

I’d heard via word of mouth that insuring young people to drive a classic car was far cheaper than for a modern car. That turned out to be true because Patrick, who is the policy holder on the Minor, with dad as a named driver, pays only £120 per year.