GOING off-road in a classic British family car has become a daily pastime for one New Zealand mechanic. Shane Armitage has converted a 1950s Morris Minor Traveller into a 4x4 off-roading beast that he can take on both roads and sand dunes. On first look, ‘Woody’ as the car is known, appears to be a British motor corporation classic, but is actually built on a Morris Minor shell and a Suzuki Escudo/Vitara chassis with a second Morris Minor used for donor parts. Shane, of Muriwai, told FutureStudiosCars: “I use it every day, it’s my daily drive but I also really like off-roading. This combines the two together. It’s really cool, two-for-one. Everywhere you go people come up and say ‘Wow, what’s this?’" Shane was driving a 4x4 Suzuki Escudo when he spotted a Morris Minor cruising the Auckland bays and was inspired to combine the two. He bought a two-door Morris online and a second Traveller chassis which he used to make carbon fibre moulds of the roof and side panels. He then attached those moulds to the original Morris, complete with the classic wooden design seen on the original cars. The newly constructed chassis was then placed on the running gear of a Suzuki Vitara 4x4, giving it off-road capabilities. Shane said: “It’s just an all-purpose, do anything, do everything, pick the groceries up, go extreme four-wheel driving in the same day without changing vehicles. It’s a gnarly four-wheel driving beast.”
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MotorTranscript
00:00Everywhere you go people come up and say wow what's this? I use it every day. It's
00:06my daily drive and I really like off-roading. It combines the two together.
00:11It's really cool. Two for one. Happy life.
00:17New Zealand. Home to epic scenery. Breathtaking beaches. And a truly awesome two car mashup.
00:38This is my Morris Minor Traveller, Woody.
00:42At first glance, Woody may look like a 1950s British Motor Corporation classic. But this
00:50car is a wolf in sheep's clothing.
00:53Once you get underneath it, it's a Suzuki Vitara. It's cool, it's an awesome four-wheel
01:01drive and it's practical.
01:06I've always wanted one of those big American Woodys, but I could never afford one. And
01:12I saw the little Morris Minor Traveller go down the road one day and I thought that would
01:16be cool. And I already had the four-wheel drive Suzuki so then I came up with this brilliant
01:22idea to put them together.
01:24Brilliant indeed. Tell us how you did it.
01:27Get your pens and paper out, we're going to go through some details. I ended up buying
01:32a two-door Morris and then I found a second Traveller chassis and roof. We made moulds
01:39of the roof and the side panels. We made them out of carbon. It's got a carbon fibre roof
01:45and carbon fibre panels. I was a bit worried about the wood creaking when we were going
01:50off-roading so we put these two roll bars in here inside. There's a whole lot of bits
01:57added together in running gear of a Suzuki Vitara four-wheel drive with a Morris Minor
02:02Traveller stuck on top. Two for one, happy life.
02:07And this unique machine must be worth a few bucks.
02:10To be honest I probably don't actually have a number for it, but half of it my business
02:16paid for it, half of it I paid for it. So my business partner doesn't know how much
02:20it costs and neither does my wife, so everybody's sort of reasonably happy.
02:26For Shane, this combo is the best of two worlds.
02:35I use it every day. I take it to work, I take it down to get a coffee, pick up the groceries
02:41and then it takes me back to work on Monday, which is a bit of a downer. It's just an all-purpose,
02:47do anything, do everything. Pick the groceries up, go extreme four-wheel driving in the same
02:52day. Don't have to change vehicles, easy.
02:56This Morris takes me to all my adventure sports I want to do, mountain biking, kite surfing,
03:01paddle boarding, fishing.
03:03While this vehicle's a fun everyday driver, it's most at home off-road.
03:09Really, it's a gnarly four-wheel driving beast.
03:24It actually, it drives like a Suzuki Vitara, strangely enough, except it's got this big
03:31steering wheel with this really cool horn.
03:35Most people that see it, they think it's pretty cool. They like taking selfies with it. They
03:41talk to me, ask me lots of questions about it.
03:49I really like hanging out at the beach. I really like off-roading. It combines the two
03:54together. It's really cool. Everywhere you go, people come up and say, wow, what's this?
04:00The most memorable incident I had was a big chap come staunching over to me and said,
04:06is this yours, bro? And I said, yeah. And he said, it's a mean-ass walker, bro.
04:12And you can't argue with that.
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