1961 MORRIS MINOR TRAVELLER RESTORATION

Part 1: Nice Guts but Not Much to Look At

We’ve always been huge fans of Morris Minor Travellers, so it goes without saying that we extremely excited when this 1961 rolled through the doors for restoration. We were glad to find out that the car was pretty mechanically sound, and featured an upgraded 1275cc engine, disk brakes, and 5-speed transmission. However, it was very much lacking in the cosmetic department.

We love the Mark 2s hold a special place in our hearts, so we were eager to get started on a complete restoration project. This beautiful 1961 Jaguar MK2 came to us in pretty good shape, driving well, but just looking a bit tired. Time for a complete Mark 2 makeover! It’s a longtime California car that has never had any rust or accident damage, which thankfully made our job a bit easier.

Part 2: The Challenge Ahead

We were tasked with completely replacing the wood and doing a high-quality bare metal paint job to this car so it would look just as good as it ran. Getting the wood to fit perfectly would prove to be a difficult task, but we persevered and saw it through.

As you can see in the photos, it’s come a long way since we got started.

As usual, the paint and body was done by Ken’s Body Shop right here in San Luis Obispo—and it came out great. The car was painted black with a base coat and clear coat that makes it really pop with a very deep finish.

The most challenging aspect of this restoration was getting the wood work just right. Luckily, the guys at Woodies did an incredible job on the wood kit, and the whole process went very smoothly.

These are really cool little cars, and we couldn’t be more pleased with how the finished product turned out. Well worth the extra time and effort!