Elisha Adams with the 1957 Morris 1000.
The cars on parade on Saturday.
Determined to meet rain, hail or shine, members of the Morris Minor Car Club NSW travelled from across the country for the Wellington Vintage Fair.
The youngest member of the club, Dubbo’s Elisha Adams, is on her P-plates and following in her late father’s footsteps, driving the 1957 Morris 1000 that he built from the ground up when he was a member of the club.
He passed away when she was just two-years-old, but her mother Maree continued to take her to rallies in the car, figuring that along with the Morris1000, she’d probably inherited her father’s passion for cars.
What she didn’t expect to inherit was a large surrogate family when she joined the Morris Minor Car Club.
She was given a lifetime membership when she turned 17.
“Over the years they have been incredibly supportive, especially John (Ballard, co-ordinator of the central west branch),” she said.
“There’s so much that I’ve learnt from them about cars, but they also have heaps of life experience too.”
She has lots of car memories from an early age, but her favourite is of last year’s Easter rally at Port Macquarie.
“Obviously there’s the sentimental value, but there are a lot of things I like about the car,” she said.
“There’s been some progress in technology, but when these cars were manufactured, they were solid and built to last; you don’t expect anything today to last 53 years.”
Kempsey member Colin Trusler said that the appeal of the car is its character.
“People like the Morris Minor. Whenever you go somewhere in it they wave to you because it’s a friendly car.”
“They’re all different, they each have their own quirks and they are simple and affordable to fix.”
According to Mr Trusler, its popularity speaks for itself, given that it was the first car to reach a million sold in England.