William Tunnicliff with his 1968 Morris Minor Pickup was the winner of the ClassicLine sponsored 2019 Gemini Events Pride of Ownership awards at the Chetwynd Deer Park Motorfest. After the event, we caught up with William to find out more about concours condition Morris Minor Pickup.
William has had a passion for Morris Minors since the early days of his apprenticeship. One of the first cars he worked on was in fact a Morris Minor. So, after a 35-year career in the motor trade with retirement on the horizon, it seemed the right time to start his own classic car restoration project.
The 1968 Morris Minor Pickup was purchased in 2014, a rare find as Pickup models are hard to find nowadays. Morris Motors Ltd originally produced thousands of the model, but they were built for tradesmen and business use They were workhorses; used by builders, the postal service and even as ice cream vans. So, when in 2014, William came across this 1968 model on a well-known auction site with only two previous owners, he knew it was worth a look.
After a bit of investigation, William discovered that the Pickup was supplied new to Morris dealer, George Fitt & Company of Whitstable. From here, it was sold to W.G. Relton, a building firm also in Whitstable, where the car stayed until 1993. The car was then left in a garden until in 2014. So, together with his son Dean, William decided to purchase it as a restoration project.