Photo: Hull Live / MEN
Barn finds are always exciting for all car enthusiasts because they promise that the magic has not been lost and that anyone, with enough determination and opportunity, could someday stumble across one such hidden treasure. Life in the city doesn’t offer too many opportunities for barn finds, unless the “find” has been hiding in plain sight all along.
This is the case with Mildred. Mildred is somewhat of a local celebrity but, much like the movie stars of its time, no one knows too much about it with certainty. Mildred is famous, but Mildred is also a complete mystery, which is what adds to its charm.
For at least the past four years, Mildred has been sitting on the third level of a multi-story car park in Kingston upon Hull in North-Eastern England, HullLive reports. Mildred is a maroon 1965 Morris Minor 1000, whose MOT (the Ministry of Transport annual test for roadworthiness, emissions and safety for any vehicle) expired in 2017. Whoever its owner is, they stopped paying taxes for Mildred two years after that but, strangely enough, they’re up to date with parking at the car park in central Hull.
Mildred looks to be in decent condition, once you look past the dust and the grime it’s been gathering for years. It proudly displays a sticker of the Leeds Grand de Parp, an annual event started in 2013 by the Leeds branch of the Morris Minors Owners Club, so it was still running then. Other than that and the “Mildred” sticker on the back, it offers no other clue as to its history or how it ended up there – well, other than the obvious version that the owner decided it was cheaper to pay for parking there than have it stored at a proper facility.
Local media have issued calls for tips on Mildred, in the hope that the owner might come forward. When they do, they will probably (hopefully?) have an equally interesting story to tell.
The Morris Minor was a British economy family car produced between 1948 and 1971 in over 1.6 million units. Jeremy Clarkson once described it as Britain’s version of the VW Beetle, but he didn’t mean it as a compliment. The 1000 series was the third series offered, introduced in 1956, and represented Morris Minor’s successful attempt at mass-production.
Over 847,000 units of the 1000 series were produced, featuring several improvements over predecessors, though still no active safety features. A new 948cc engine delivered a higher top speed (75 mph / 120.7 kph) and a reduced 0 to 60 mph (96.5 kph) acceleration time, from 52.5 seconds to 31.3 seconds. Luxury trims were replaced by cheaper, more durable materials, and color options were narrowed down.
Morris Minors are still pretty popular in the UK, and replacement parts are not hard to come by. So here’s to hope Mildred will get another chance on the road some day.
For at least the past four years, Mildred has been sitting on the third level of a multi-story car park in Kingston upon Hull in North-Eastern England, HullLive reports. Mildred is a maroon 1965 Morris Minor 1000, whose MOT (the Ministry of Transport annual test for roadworthiness, emissions and safety for any vehicle) expired in 2017. Whoever its owner is, they stopped paying taxes for Mildred two years after that but, strangely enough, they’re up to date with parking at the car park in central Hull.
Mildred looks to be in decent condition, once you look past the dust and the grime it’s been gathering for years. It proudly displays a sticker of the Leeds Grand de Parp, an annual event started in 2013 by the Leeds branch of the Morris Minors Owners Club, so it was still running then. Other than that and the “Mildred” sticker on the back, it offers no other clue as to its history or how it ended up there – well, other than the obvious version that the owner decided it was cheaper to pay for parking there than have it stored at a proper facility.
Local media have issued calls for tips on Mildred, in the hope that the owner might come forward. When they do, they will probably (hopefully?) have an equally interesting story to tell.
The Morris Minor was a British economy family car produced between 1948 and 1971 in over 1.6 million units. Jeremy Clarkson once described it as Britain’s version of the VW Beetle, but he didn’t mean it as a compliment. The 1000 series was the third series offered, introduced in 1956, and represented Morris Minor’s successful attempt at mass-production.
Over 847,000 units of the 1000 series were produced, featuring several improvements over predecessors, though still no active safety features. A new 948cc engine delivered a higher top speed (75 mph / 120.7 kph) and a reduced 0 to 60 mph (96.5 kph) acceleration time, from 52.5 seconds to 31.3 seconds. Luxury trims were replaced by cheaper, more durable materials, and color options were narrowed down.
Morris Minors are still pretty popular in the UK, and replacement parts are not hard to come by. So here’s to hope Mildred will get another chance on the road some day.
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