Vintage car holds family history

As members of the Otago Branch of the Vintage Car Club once again prepare to drive in the Daffodil Rally for Cancer on Sunday, August 25, The Star reporter Simon Henderson speaks to a Fairfield member who has a lifelong link to a humble motorcar.

A beloved family car continues to create positive memories for its owner.

Ray Wilson’s 1937 Morris 8 Series 1 was first bought by his father, James Wilson, in September 1939 for £198 (about $26,000).

It was a time when car ownership was more of a rarity and he recalled being proud his family were able to own one.

"We were the only car in the street," he said.

The car doubled as a practical work horse such as being used to deliver milk during World War 2, the back seat removed to accommodate the bottles.

It was also used to transport firewood, the seat again taken out so the small car could be filled to the brim with wood.

"Dad would cut these lengths of firewood the length of the back seat. He made it work."

Mr Wilson recalled travelling with his family to Christchurch for the Christmas holiday break.

"Mum would be in the front with our baby sister on her knee and I would be in the back with my other sister on top of the suitcases."

"It’s what you did — it was an all-day trip to Christchurch, but it did not matter."

To keep costs down, instead of staying in a motel, they would do a house exchange with a family in Christchurch, who would spend their holiday at the same time in Dunedin.

When he was about 15, he learned to drive in the Morris 8 with his dad.

"He took me to the Mosgiel-Outram Road and said ‘you are driving now’."

After serving his father well for years, the Morris 8 was eventually superseded and from 1977 it languished at the back of a garage.

It was given a a new lease on life when Mr Wilson’s son Craig, an apprentice panel beater at the time, undertook a painstaking restoration of the car.

"Over four or five years, my son restored it for me. It took him a while," Mr Wilson said.

When finished, the car was a gleaming example of early motoring, and since then Mr Wilson and wife Judith have participated in many vintage car rallies.

"It’s not a museum piece, it is to use," he said.

Mr Wilson recently turned 80 and he is now sharing the car’s legacy with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

"The great-grandkids, they are only 5-1/2 and 6 now, and they play in it — they get in and they love it, they sit in there.

"Mind you, I disconnect the battery, though."

At the moment, the Morris 8 is without its motor, which has been sent away for repairs, but he is looking forward to taking it out for a spin once reassembled.

As the engine is only 918cc, he tends to avoid motorways.

"The lawnmower’s got more power.

"But, you know, you tootle along."

"If I take it out now, it’ll be down the Peninsula Road or Aramoana or Outram — you know, little light runs."