Welcome home ‘Morris’, you have travelled full circle

The circle of life

Did you ever watch films such as ‘The Yellow Rolls-Royce’ in 1964 or the ‘Herbie’ films?  This story reminded me of these greats.

This is the tale of a Morris 1000 2dr Saloon.

‘Morris’ was bought brand spanking new by Mr George Gregg, on 1st July 1968 from a local garage in Kingswinford.  That was 42 years ago.  The name of the Morris & M.G. dealership was T Wall (Garages) Ltd, and the site is still known under the same name and has been trading for over 50 years in Kingswinford.

Morris was bought for the grand sum of £681.17s.3d. In those days seat belts weren’t compulsory and Mr Gregg paid £8.10s.0d to have them fitted. Mr Greggs part exchange for Morris was an A35 for £50.

There are two parallels running in this story.  One is ‘Morris’ and the other is Mr Gregg who worked for Jubilee Coaches which was on the site prior to T Wall Garages. Mr Gregg started employment as a wagon driver taking on coach driving in 1947 which he continued to do for 37 years so he obviously loved driving. He also volunteered to drive the Parish Bus every Sunday, collecting local parishioners from the community and driving them to St Mary’s Church in Kingswinford for worship.

The Morris 1000 was a reliable motor car for the Gregg family, not travelling many miles as people didn’t in those days.

After 17 years of ownership Mr Gregg could no longer drive but didn’t want to sell his beloved car and so gave ‘Morris’ to his son, Peter Gregg, who also lives locally.   Peter lovingly restored the little motor car to its former glory.  The family used ‘Morris’ to take the children to school and general running about.  These little cars have a way of getting under your skin and becoming part of the family.  In 1986, Peter decided to show ‘Morris’ off by attending their first Morris Minor Rally in 1986 held at Hartlebury Castle, Stourport.  This was the start of the whole family having the Morris Minor bug.  The Gregg family attended Rallys across the country including the Morris Minor Jubilee at Blenheim Palace in 1998 and a rally in Bridgnorth in 2000, where Peter and ‘Morris’ won the Best Saloon Car Trophy.

Morris is still in immaculate condition for his 42 years with only one re-spray in 1991 and is still a strong link to the past for the family with fond memories.  After cherishing the car for 25 years, and reading a recent article in the paper commemorating 50 years of T Wall Garages, Peter Gregg contacted the dealership and told Retail Operator, Tim Barnes, the story of his father, Mr Gregg, Morris and their link with T Wall Garages.  Tim was so taken with the history of the car that he asked Peter Gregg if the dealership could buy Morris back and bought him for more money than his father paid T Wall back in 1968.  Morris will take pride of place in the showroom and anyone wanting to call in to say hello and share their cherished motor car stories are more than welcome.

Welcome home ‘Morris’, you have travelled full circle.

T Wall Garages will be recommisioning Morris and will be looking to make him available to the local community, fetes, events and schools.  Morris may even enjoy performing at a classic rally!