Registration - YRE 720H

Chassis No. - 268643

M.O.T. - Exempt

Odometer - 95000

First registered in September 1969, ‘YRE 720H’ is presented in the livery of F A Donovan & Son, a new and used car sales company of Sandbach that acquired the pick-up in 1976. Absent from the road for the last 24 years, it has apparently benefited from an extensive rebuild and, rather than be customised as some have been, it has been refurbished to original specification, right down to its ‘crinkly’ radiator grille, plain hubcaps and Austin bonnet badge that distinguished the Austin version of the pick-up from its somewhat more common Morris cousins. The vendor informs us that its many new parts include the water pump, radiator, exhaust system, clutch and tyres, and he nowadays views the 1098cc A Series engine, four-speed manual transmission and brown interior trim as being in ‘good’ order, and the green paintwork as ‘average’. In summary he describes the pick-up as ‘a very solid truck’, the odometer of which currently displays an unwarranted but perfectly credible 95,000 miles. A seemingly honest classic that would be equally at home as an eye-catching marketing tool for a small business as paddock decoration for such major automotive gatherings as the Goodwood Revival meeting.

In common with the related van, a pickup version of the ubiquitous Morris Minor was available from 1953 to the end of Minor production in 1971. Austin-badged versions were introduced following the termination of the Austin A35 range in 1968. Though unmistakably related to their saloon and Traveller siblings, the commercial variants featured separate chassis rather than monocoque bodyshells. Other distinguishing features included telescopic rear dampers, stiffer leaves for the rear springs and a lower final drive ratio.

In summary:

· Absent from the road since 1998

· Sympathetically rebuilt to original specification using numerous new parts

· Described as a ‘very solid truck’