Possible Wolseley Hornet or Riley Elf spotted Clarendon Street South Melboure

[Lionelgee]

Hello All,

I got a text message from my son who lives in Melbourne. At 1:00 pm today he spotted a 'classic' car that looked like a 1960s Mini Cooper with a "protruding boot and an otherwise 'normal' Mini appearance". It was one of those glimpses where the eye spots something 'different' about a car as it whizzes by. Not a parked car that one can spend time walking around and placing under close examination.

Any one know the vehicle? Or who owns it. 'Unique' seems to be a very over used word sometimes! Would have been a real treat to see. Were there many of them made and how many made it to Australia - or would it have been a special import?

Kind regards
Lionel

[V8Ian]

Lionel, neither models were available here. The grill was also different, being more traditional according to the badge.

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[Lionelgee]

Hello Ian,

This one must have been a private import - for sale in September 2024 for the princely sum of $29,900 See SOLD - 1964 RILEY ELF MKII - healeyfactory.com.au (https://healeyfactory.com.au/product/1964-riley-elf-mkii/) Details via The Healey Factory ... Text exchange with my son ended before the colour could be confirmed. The car my son saw was spotted Friday 19th December at 1:00 pm.

From the description in the advertisement it might be an original body - but every thing to do with the engine to the wheels have all be 'modernised'.

Kind regards
Lionel

[JDNSW]

Yes, the only Minis sold in Australia were the Morris variant, and although there were a few private imports of the others, these were very, very rare.

[Fattima]

There's an Elf advertised for sale at the moment on FB marketplace.
Log in to Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/share/17rin1yFcM/)

[Tins]

I have known people to mistake these for Minis, but to me the difference is obvious, they are longer and most Aussie ones were 4 door
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However, back in the day I had a mate who worked at Link Automotive in Mitcham ( Monbulk before that ). They were well known Mini tuners etc. They had a couple of each variant. Customer cars or ones they had imported, I don't know. This was 40 years ago.
I seem to recall a Vanden Plas version, but I don't think it was extended in any way.

[p38arover]

I have known people to mistake these for Minis, but to me the difference is obvious, they are longer and most Aussie ones were 4 door
195261

I'd never seen a 2-door Morris 1100 until recenty on a British period drama (it was a police car). In fact, I asked Scouse about them.

[JDNSW]

I am sure I have never seen a two door 1100.

And talking of the 1100, there was also the later 1500, again, in Australia, only the Morris for both of these.

[Hoges]

I am sure I have never seen a two door 1100.

And talking of the 1100, there was also the later 1500, again, in Australia, only the Morris for both of these.

Had both at one time or another. The 1500 had a 5sp manual box geared such that max. torque equated to 130kmh/80mph in 5th gear... from where it would accelerate strongly. Handy for passing semi-trailers across the Hay plains in days long gone.....[thumbsupbig]

[JDNSW]

My father bought a 1500 to replace his Simca V8. Went quite well, until he replaced it with a Citroen DS and passed it on to a grandchild. Who found that it had inadequate ground clearance - finished its life with the sump repaired with silicone!

[Tins]

I have seen a two door, at the aforementioned Link Automotive. Clearly a single import because it was an Austin.

[Tins]

The 1500 was an OHC IIRC.

[Tins]

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[p38arover]

The 1500 was an OHC IIRC.

I owned 1500 Morris Nomad. They were OHC. I bought it really cheap from a colleague as it had a gearbox problem. It had already been back to BLMC but they couldn’t fix it so had been off the road for sometime. (I have a workshop manual if you need one ?)

I did. It had a loose nut in the gearshift cable system.

[V8Ian]

I'm surprised Jerry hasn't chimed in.

[Tins]

I'm surprised Jerry hasn't chimed in.

Too new fangled for Jerry.

[V8Ian]

No he's all over anything Pommie from that era, particularly.