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 Ridiculous Rides: “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
00:00 Everywhere you go people come up and say wow what's this? I use it every day it's
00:06 my daily drive and I really like off-roading. It combines the two together
00:11 it's really cool two for one happy life.
00:23 New Zealand home to epic scenery breathtaking beaches and a truly
00:32 awesome two car mashup. This is my Morris Minor Traveller Woody. On first glance
00:42 Woody may look like a 1950s British Motor Corporation classic but this car
00:50 is a wolf in sheep's clothing. Once you get underneath it it's a Suzuki Vitara.
00:57 It's cool it's an awesome four-wheel drive and it's practical. I've always
01:06 wanted one of those big American Woodies but I could never afford one and I saw
01:12 the little Morris Minor Traveller go down the road one day and I thought that
01:16 would be cool and I already had the four-wheel drive Suzuki so then I came
01:20 up with this brilliant idea to put them together. Brilliant indeed tell us how
01:26 you did it. Get your pens and paper out we're going to go through some details.
01:30 I ended up buying a two-door Morris and then I found a second Traveller chassis
01:36 and roof. We made molds of the roof and the side panels we made them out of
01:42 carbon. It's got a carbon fiber roof and carbon fiber panels. I was a bit worried
01:48 about the wood creaking when we were going off-roading so we put these two
01:52 roll bars in here inside. There's a whole lot of bits added together and running
01:58 gear of a Suzuki Vitara four-wheel drive with the Morris Minor Traveller stuck on
02:03 top. Two for one happy life. And this unique machine must be worth a few bucks.
02:10 To be honest I probably don't actually have a number for it but half of it my
02:15 business paid for it half of it I paid for it so my business partner doesn't
02:20 know how much it costs and neither does my wife so everybody's sort of
02:24 reasonably happy. For Shane this combo is the best of two worlds. I use it every
02:36 day I take it to work I take it down to get a coffee pick up the groceries and
02:40 then it takes me back to work on Monday which is a bit of a downer. It's just an
02:46 all-purpose do anything do everything pick the groceries up go extreme
02:50 four-wheel-driving in the same day don't have to change vehicles easy. This Morris
02:56 takes me to all my adventure sports I want to do mountain biking, kite surfing,
03:01 paddle boarding, fishing. While this vehicle is a fun everyday driver it's
03:06 most at home off-road.
03:10 Really it's a gnarly four-wheel-driving beast.
03:27 It actually drives like a Suzuki Vitara strangely enough except it's
03:33 got this big steering wheel with this really cool horn.
03:38 Most people that see it I think it's pretty cool they like taking selfies
03:45 with it they talk to me ask me lots of questions about it.
03:54 I really like hanging out at the beach I really like off-roading it combines the
03:59 two together it's really cool everywhere you go people come up and say wow what's
04:04 this.
04:06 The most memorable incident I had was a big chap comes staunching over to me and
04:16 said is this yours bro I said yeah and he said it's a mean-ass walker bro. And
04:22 you can't argue with that.
04:26 (wind blowing)
04:28 [BLANK_AUDIO]