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OK, I've gone and done it. I succumbed to the lure of practicality,
reliability and a 60,000 mile/3 year warranty.
You see, I'm due to be a daddy in a couple of months (June
2001) and poor old 'Bessie', our '67 Minor Convertible,
just isn't up to the task of carrying baby seats, pushchairs
and dirty nappies. Plus the other mothers at the coffee
mornings will smirk. I can see it now. As for 'Moose' the
Trav', that's my commuter car. Keep your hands off
it! ;)
So, new car time it is. With a sense of impending doom,
knowing that we were likely to end up with a Ford Mundane-o,
or God forbid, a Fiat Multi-Plaque, we went downtown to
look at new-car magazines. Trying to avoid the unpleasantness
of new cars I guess, my wife got distracted by the baby
and parenting magazines whilst I began my search for a new
car by flicking through Street Machine magazine.
And as luck would have it, there, nestled in the pages
of Street Machine, was the car we just had to have. I showed
the picture to my wife, expecting an answer something along
the lines of "Yeah, right - come on be sensible"
when to my delight I heard instead "Oh that's AWESOME!
Can I have one just like that?!". Notice the use of
the word 'I' ...
 
The Chrysler PT Cruiser has been on the UK market since
July 2000. It is sold out until at least July 2001. There's
a 7 month waiting list. We bought one 3 days later.
A friend of mine put me on to someone who knows someone
who knows a dealer who might have one. It was worth a phone
call I suppose. They had a brand new, unregistered, cancelled
order, turning up on the truck direct from Chrysler that
afternoon. We said "Yes, please". It must have
been the easiest sale they've ever made. Our brand new PT
Cruiser was delivered on the back of a truck to our house
on January 3, 2001.
So, here comes the point of this little story. After much
comtemplation, and studying of details, I'm convinced that
the reason I like the PT Cruiser so much is that it resembles
the Morris Minor so much. Not one particular model of Minor,
but elements from all of them.
The Evidence
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The Front Wings
 The
way the headlights are built into the wings and the
way the wings curve and blend into the front of the
car are just like a Lowlite Minor. The way the bulging
curve of the front wing flows back and down into the
front doors is so familiar!
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The Grill
Five horizontal bars in
the grill of the PT Cruiser. Five horizontal bars
in the grill of a Minor 1000. Coincidence?
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The Sills
 The
subtle outward flare of the sills that hints at old-style
running boards are a feature of both the PT Cruiser
and the Minor.
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The Roofline
 The
roof is long and flat and leads back to a steeply
sloped rear end, just like a Minor Traveller.
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The Rear Wings
 Like
the ones at the front, the rear wings are big and
round and curvy. Even the tail lights are positioned
in the same place.
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The Seats
 OK,
so the rear seats in a Minor don't split 60/40 like
they do in the PT Cruiser, but they still fold forward
and allow the rear seats to be laid flat providing
a huge luggage area. Just like the Cruiser. The versatility
of both cars is great.
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The Press Reports
The Chrysler dealer gave me
a book of photocopied press reports about the PT Cruiser.
It seems that I'm not the only one who thinks the
Cruiser bears more than a passing resemblence to the
Minor.
The Financial Mail on Sunday Motoring section (Aug
20, 2000) says that the PT Cruiser "has the charm
of a modern-day Morris Minor Traveller".
The Observer Magazine (July 9, 2000) wonders "whether
you love it's retro styling or think it looks like
a Morris Minor on steroids".
In a similar vein, The Scotsman (April 21, 2000)
also seems to think that the PT either "appears
to be a ZZ Top dragster" or "a Morris Minor
on steroids".
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The Verdict
OK, so the PT Cruiser is a modern thin-tin box, the engine
is the wrong way around, and it drives the wrong end of
the car. It doesn't leak oil onto the driveway or water
onto the driver's knees. I lifted the bonnet once and quickly
vowed never to even attempt to change the sparkplugs myself.
And It's not even British!
But it is sooooo cool to look at! It stands out from a
crowd (only 2500 have been sold so far in the UK, and only
another 6500 are due to arrive for 2001). It appeals to
all sorts of people, from executives to school kids. It
may not have that lovely musty upholstery smell that most
Minors do, but give it time. It may just be the 'Minor'
of the year 2050.
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