What type of car is it?

A 1982 Morris Ital which is a derivative from the Morris Marina (but don’t let Jeremy from Top Gear hear about it or he’ll drop a piano on it!).

When did you buy it?

1994 How much did it cost?

It was advertised at £60 for “spares and repairs” and it had no MOT.

Why did you buy this particular car?

I bought the Morris because fixing up cars is a hobby of mine. The Morris is an easy car to work on and at the time there were plenty of scrap Marinas around for all the parts and spares that I would need. I worked hard on the car and got it mechanically sound, reliable and rust free and it passed its MOT. I really maintain the car well and it is extremely reliable and passes its MOT every year!

What do you like most about it?

Ten years ago I decided to make it unusual. So I removed the roof and took six inches from all the pillars and welded the roof back on again. Lots of people ask me why on earth I decided to do this and I normally jokingly tell them that not only does it make my car faster and give me better fuel economy, it also means I can get under the barriers! The real reason though, is that I saw a picture in a magazine and really liked how unusual it looked. The roof is sloped more to the back to follow the profile of the boot so it looks like a fastback.

What irritates you most about it?

People laughing at me as I drive along, although to be honest it doesn’t really irritate me, it’s just something that happens. People don’t really know what it is, in fact there’s less than 1,000 on the road in this country. I think they all ended up in the scrap yards. Nowadays they are rather sought after.

Is it good value for money?

Yes, although that’s not the reason I keep it. The best value is in the attention that it gets. It always draws a crowd. Last week I took it to the Newbury Classic Car Show and even though it was parked up next to all the gleaming Jaguars, Aston Martins and MG’s, everybody was more interested in the Morris. It was really funny, they were all looking at my car, taking pictures and ignoring the others.

Does it have a name?

No What is your favourite memory of the car?

I think it would have to be parking up next to all the executive cars in the office car park where I worked as a surveyor. It certainly got some strange looks!

And your worst?

It got stolen once. I got it back four days later, it had been abandoned not too far away. There was no damage but it had been driven 250 miles. So it has a secret mystery life!

If you could own any car, what would it be?

It would definitely be a classic. I’m not someone that would spend a lot of money on Ferrari or a Lamborghini. I’d probably go for a Mark 2 Jag, manual overdrive.

What was your first car?

An Austin Healey Sprite, I bought it when I was 19 and kept it 12 years. It was good fun, I drove it to Cornwall several times and commuted to Birmingham most days. I sold it for a deposit on a house.

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