Descrizione
THIS absolutely wonderful Morris Oxford series III will be, arguably, the best of its kind in the UK. A multiple trophy winner with silverware to back it up, this stunning Morris has been totally restored with the underside in matching body colour so impressive that I now feel the urge to crawl underneath with sponge and soapy water and wash off some recent road grime! This Oxford was fitted with the BMC "manumatic" of the day. This was an option at new, but it was also an option for which you had to pay extra.
So what was manumatic? Well, as the same suggests it was quite simply a cross between manual and automatic. A sort of early day paddle shift equivalent if you like. It worked off a vacuum system and there was no clutch pedal. You still had the 4 gears on the column shift as you would have done with a normal manual. But there was nothing for your left foot to do. You just changed gear. Any surviving manumatics are looked upon as being exceptionally rare. BMC used the concept in MG Magnettes, Wolseleys, Morris and Austin models.
Anyway, there she is. In utterly splendid condition. A Condition One example. The first photo of an Oxford series III (as displayed by the well known informative classic car site Simon Cars) is the actual car and not another example of the model. This is it. 2846 WB.
Part of the intriguing social history that comes with this fine old vehicle tells us that Mr Gordon Stanley of Sheffield paid £165 for the then nine-year-old Oxford in October of 1966. Remember most 1950s vehicles never made it that far in any case! Anyway, he kept the Morris for around 50 years or so, clearly having it restored to a high standard during his ownership. Elsewhere in the history, we note detailed service history going back to the early 1960s.
My classic cars are motoring antiques. Please do not confuse them with your one-year-old Range Rover. This car, for example, is 65-years-old and so will have quirks and faults in there somewhere. These are not always apparent when buying and selling classics which is what I do. I do not restore them, nor do I pretend that they are concours cars. The majority of them go out as they came in, and I continue to enjoy finding more - a skill which is becoming increasingly difficult as many of you will be aware. They deserve to be taken on as "family pets" and cared for through thick and then. They don't make them any more and demand now out-strips supply. Please bear all this in mind, and enjoy your classic car. I can also assist with delivery and so please ask for a quote.
I have now been established as a one-man band classic car dealer for 20 years and pride myself on my buying prowess and - due to small margins - my prices which I firmly believe are up there among the very best in the UK classic car marketplace.
Thanks, Martin. the details below
