What can people tell me about the Morris Elite? I know what one looks like - and it is the same vintage as the Mini Was it a B series motor? Are they collectable?

One has been drawn to my attention in sound condition - needs some body work - for $300

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David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!

Last iteration of the Morris Major/Austin Lancer/Wolseley 1500 models, it had a B series motor of 1622cc, single carby.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

My 2 cents:

Major/Elite seems to have all the hall marks of a stop gap between the "rounder" 1500's/Lancers and the ALL NEW BMC1100.

I for one would never say no to inheriting an original one owner car, but even in the 'elite' version of the base model Major, your still looking at a "poverty pack" offering and you'd be hard pressed to get a decent return on any big restoration.

There are better cars to look at and play with.

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YDO005 1965 stock standard MORRIS MINI DELUXE

Did a bit mor digging myself - Last of the inline engine cars built by BMC and was replaced by the Morris 1100

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David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!

Minor owners see them in the same way as they see Marinas, and the same way Mini owners see 1100's.

sorry to hi jack, but how about the morris 1300?
ive been offered one and dont really have space but it seems to good to pass up.

I'd grab it - although if a Nomad came my way I wouldn't be able to turn it down - I followed my Mini with a Nomad in 1970

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David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!

Morris 1300 autos were a great car, we had one too, pity they didn't make a 1300 manual.
IMO the 1500 motor was a dog, and so was its cableshift gearbox.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

The whole car was a dog But I'd like something to swear at

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David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!

Ahhhh,,,, But the 1750 maxi donk bored out to nearly 2litres & shoved into a std-ish Nomad sleeper just with a set of slightly wider wheels & nice tyres with the later maxi rod change 5 speed gearbox, & aturbo on it would be pretty cool

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No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.

I was thinking about a Tasman motor.

Getting back on thread, the Elite is significant in that it was the first design by BMC's Australian Office - YDO1

YDO2 was the facelift of the Elite, with lower slightly sloping roof line.

I'm afraid that, like the Morris 1100, they have never been considered collectable, so most have gone to the great trash heap.

If it is a fairly good one, then it is worth preserving - regardless of if you think it is a great car or not. But, as said previously, you won't get any return from a major resto, so it is more sentimental value than anything.

That's my sixpence-worth (5c)

Cheers,
Watto.

yeah you`re right Watto, shame tho hey?

& Morris1100,,, so you`d rather a biger heavier boat anchor over the smaller lighter boat anchor???

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No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.