How Did I End Up Here?
Unlike my life-long attraction to Morris Minor’s, I was only vaguely aware of the existence of this great little brand. As I became more deeply involved in international social media devoted to the Morris, the Austins would pop up and grab my interest. I didn’t hold out much hope of ever obtaining one as they are very rare in the US. Then, lo and behold, this one popped up on bringatrailer.com, so I decided to dive into the bidding.
What’s the Attraction?
This car shares a lot of the mid-twentieth century technology that went into my Morris Minor and Sprite. All familiar, quirky stuff. Parts seem to be readily available and it’s undeniably cute! At this writing the exchange rate with the British Pound is very attractive and the same company in the UK that supplies the parts for my Minor have a branch for the Austin A30 series.
Let the Bidding Begin
I didn’t really know what the value of the car was in USD, but I had a “quit number” in mind, that number where you know it’s just gotten too crazy and it’s out of my league. At around 5 grand, it became apparent that it was just me and one other lunatic interested in the car. On bringatrailer, if someone enters a bid just as the auction is scheduled to end, they automatically extend the auction two and a half minutes to allow for a response. Unlike eBay where you can slam a winning bid in just as the auction ends, I have seen many auction become a “battle royale” at the end. Then there’s the fact that you don’t know what reserve the owner has placed on his treasure, so you might be wasting your time. So my rival and I threw ever-increasing bids at each other in $100 increments until it was my turn to go to $6000, my (mushy) quit number. The clock restarted at two and a half minutes and I sat there watching it tick away and… VICTORY!!!!! Not only had I won the auction, but BAT informed me I had met or exceeded the seller’s number and it was MINE!
Now What?
Bringatrailer charges the buyer a very reasonable premium. Sellers just pay the cost of the original ad. Next issue was that the car was in California and I am in Virginia. I started shopping for shippers and found that the cost varied wildly. The first thing you have to figure out is whether you want/need it to be in an enclosed trailer. Very pricey, so I ruled that out. Trying to find an independent trucker is not for the feint of heart, so I found a broker that was reviewed highly on enthusiast sites. Lindsay at Easy Auto Ship was very friendly and enthusiastic and offered me a competitive price at $1550. There were a couple of issues – once we struck a deal Lindsey had to find a truck that was passing through the somewhat remote California town on its way to Virginia.
Arrival in Virginia
After about four days in transit my new friend arrives at First Landing Autocare in Virginia Beach.
I soon found that the car was as advertised and very “well sorted” as the Brits would say. It has a smaller engine than my Morris Minor, but it only weighs 1300 or so pounds, so it performs very well. It has drum brakes all the way around without power assist, so you don’t want to tailgate. It is missing a tooth on first gear, so it works, but is not fun to listen to. Starting out in second works just fine, again, probably due to the vehicle’s light weight.
Here’s a video about flushing the cooling system