Here's the boot - ah, it's gorgeous! Round and rumplike and this color! Maroon not as in marooned on some isle but as in deep glossy red-purple like a plum or nearly ripe blackberry.

This is a car that needs to be driven, to be gawked at, to be kept in a garage and tinkered with (not that anything's amiss, but this is what little British cars adore - attention after dinner and a Sunday jaunt around the lake.)

I just found my stash of Morris Minor books, pamphlets and the parts and info catalog (which you can download) from the Morris Minor Centre. I also found the original FAX communicatios between Charles Ware and me while HAM was being sought then worked on there in Bath.

Make me an offer!

Who can resist this tomato red interior and the giant steering wheel the size of a truck's?!

HAM has been a terrific fun little car, and I have made friends wherever I've driven it - often hearing stories from people who grew up in British colonies and learned to drive in a Morris Minor like mine.

The Morris Minor came from Morris Garages, who also made the sporty MG's. Morris Minor, the British answer to the folks' wagon, discontinued production in 1971. The car came as Travelor (woody station wagon), 2- and 4- door saloon, convertible, and lorry (truck). Mine is a 4-door saloon, built in England and shipped (by The Morris Minor Centre on the Bath-Bristol Road) to me in Seattle in March, 1995.

Most Morris Minors now in the US were imported to Canada as new cars in the 50's and 60's. One advantage of the 1967 is that it is the newest model that does not have to undergo modifications to meet emission standards. Mine however was converted to run on unleaded fuel, and I don't believe it is much of a polluter anyway, given its 4 cylinders, even though it has the larger 1098 cm engine. The petrol tank holds just over 8 gallons of fuel. I think four people could easily lift it fully fueled.

The body curves endlessly please me, no flat planes for this car!

This photo taken just before putting the cover back on to protect that shine and a week after driving over Snoqualmie Pass back to Seattle from Chelan, where HAM has lived in dry air for two years.

These seams - the gray between fender and body - are true Morris Minor style, meant to be exposed.

And that's its original British license plate. Make me an offer!

Here's the driver's side interior - note! it is left hand drive! Morris Minor Centre in Bath, England converted my car so it's safer to drive here in the U.S. Note! Simplicity of the dashboard: virtually all information contained within the speedometer circle. Note! toggle switch for wipers! Any car with toggle switches on the dash is a thumbs up as far as I'm concerned.

The photos from the past two days were taken at the Puget Sound All British Field Meet at Bellevue Community College in July. Here's a driver side pic with the boot and bonnet hood closed! Do write if you have questions about the car!

I drove over Stevens Pass to attend the field meet, and all went well. My little Morris loves to be driven, to whir along, not to say speedily, but to be in motion - and it was a great ride. I drove to the field meet, and all was well. Within two miles of leaving the field meet the car would not go further. I was a hot day and we coasted under an overpass for shade while I called for a tow. I knew exactly what was wrong. We had bought a new fuel pump for it after this happened before, but the fuel pump was the wrong one and we couldn't install it. Here were the other participants in the field meet, the Morgans and Minis, The people who had shown an interest in buying my car, whizzing past. ARRGH! Once home I called the nice folks at Crown Motors, who specialize in British cars, and described very carefully the fuel pump. My husband installed it when it arrived the following week, and the little car is no longer starving for fuel - it runs great again!

My 1967 Morris Minor, imported from England, and converted to left hand drive in 1995, is for sale. It is a charmer but I've had it 14 years and don't have a garage for it anymore. Do you want to drive around in a little car that has more personality than most of us? Whose turn signal indicator lights within a green globe?

Four-Door Morris Minor 1000 For Sale

In Bath, England, 1994, I met Charles Ware and dozens of Morris Minors in various states of repair, from rusty chasses to gloriously shiny new painted purring fully restored Travelers. I wanted the pearly Dove Gray saloon. It had sold.

Charles Ware, coiner of the phrase "Durable Car Ownership", offered to restore a car to my specifications. I wanted a Morris Minor. I had wanted a Morris Minor since I saw my first one in Seattle in 1971, at nineteen. That car was a pea soup green 1953 Morris Minor rescued from a backyard briar patch. That car had already sold when I rapped on the seller's door with $400 in my fist.

I ordered a 1967 4-door Maroon Saloon from the Morris Minor Centre in Bath, England, with the 1098 cc engine. I asked that it be converted to left hand drive and to run on unleaded fuel. No problem, said Mr. Ware. My car arrived in Tacoma, Washington in March, 2005. Gorgeous is the wrong word, but giddily cute is a workable descriptive phrase.

Why am I selling this car? Buying it was a wish fulfilled, and owning it has been fun, but it's been 14 years, and I don't have the time to do right by this charming little car. It needs a new owner to love and care for it.

Facts about this Morris Minor 1000:

4 door

left hand drive

1098 cc engine

71,000 Miles on it

restored in 1995 by Charles Ware, The Morris Minor Centre, Bath, England

Maroon exterior

red interior

Drives good.

No rust.