Hello. Would you like to buy my Hillman Minx? It's very nice.
Originally finished in Sand Gold Metallic, it was supplied new through Bowmans Garages of South Croydon to Mr. Leslie Griffin of Selsdon. Mr. Griffin was a 57-year-old teacher of carpentry and joinery in Croydon schools, but sadly the Minx was to be his last car; he passed away in 1979. It was inherited by his son, David Griffin, also a teacher in Croydon schools but of geography and history. He kept the car in use until his death in 2012, after which it was sold out of the family.
Apart from one holiday in 1970 when it was driven to Switzerland and back, in the Griffins' ownership the Minx was only ever used for local journeys and the occasional trip to visit family in Southampton.
I purchased it earlier in the year for two reasons, a) I like '70s custom cars and b) both it and I hail from Croydon, so I was excited to be purchasing what I understood to be a genuine piece of local customising history. Sadly, when I researched its past, I discovered that it was kept completely standard by the Griffins and was not customised until 2019. Since it isn't quite what I thought it would be, and I have several other projects demanding my time, I've decided I'd better let it go.
Although it's not an authentic custom, it has been done extremely well. The chap I bought it from had been fooled, I was fooled, and it even fooled the editor of Custom Car. A picture of it appeared in the May '22 issue with the caption 'a definite survivor'. I believe the customiser was very sympathetic to the car's originality. The door cards appear to be intact under the fur and there is nothing stopping you from putting the car back to standard if you so wished, although the original wheels and exhaust pipe have not been retained.
Although my tenure has only been brief, I have very much enjoyed driving the car to custom car shows and meets. The organiser of the Krispy Kreme meet in New Malden declared it 'car of the day' at March's gathering and it received so much positive attention at Wheels Day.
While it has some very minor cosmetic blemishes, you can see from the photographs that it's all generally in excellent condition. The engine is an unmodified 1500cc lump, so it's ideal for day-to-day use, although the side pipes are quite noisy. It has an MoT with no advisories until July. The only fault I really need to mention is in the interior. The square plastic cavity that the choke handle sits in has cracked, which has effectively rendered the choke cable unusable. However, I have not had any difficulty starting the car because it is possible (with a bit of awkward bending) to operate the choke with one hand while turning the key in the ignition with the other. It always fires up first time, though the carburettor may need some adjustment as it doesn't always idle well in traffic.
If you'd prefer to have the car put back to standard, that could be arranged (except for the wheels) as I have a friend who would be interested in transferring all the custom bits and pieces to his Vauxhall Firenza.
A full list of custom parts is as follows:
- Wolfrace slot mags
- Thrush Outsider side pipes
- Greg of Akron stick-on bonnet mural (very rare!)
- Front and rear spoilers
- Furry interior (with period 'Custom Car' floor mats!)
- Rear jack-up kit
- Cruising light
- Sebring-style wing mirrors
- Lots of historic stickers from well-known British custom magazines including Custom Car, Street Machine, Hot Rod & Custom and Hot Car, plus some Thrush and Esso 'Tiger' stickers
Besides all that, the Hillman boasts a very comprehensive paperwork file. Very thorough people, the Griffins were.
Originally finished in Sand Gold Metallic, it was supplied new through Bowmans Garages of South Croydon to Mr. Leslie Griffin of Selsdon. Mr. Griffin was a 57-year-old teacher of carpentry and joinery in Croydon schools, but sadly the Minx was to be his last car; he passed away in 1979. It was inherited by his son, David Griffin, also a teacher in Croydon schools but of geography and history. He kept the car in use until his death in 2012, after which it was sold out of the family.
Apart from one holiday in 1970 when it was driven to Switzerland and back, in the Griffins' ownership the Minx was only ever used for local journeys and the occasional trip to visit family in Southampton.
I purchased it earlier in the year for two reasons, a) I like '70s custom cars and b) both it and I hail from Croydon, so I was excited to be purchasing what I understood to be a genuine piece of local customising history. Sadly, when I researched its past, I discovered that it was kept completely standard by the Griffins and was not customised until 2019. Since it isn't quite what I thought it would be, and I have several other projects demanding my time, I've decided I'd better let it go.
Although it's not an authentic custom, it has been done extremely well. The chap I bought it from had been fooled, I was fooled, and it even fooled the editor of Custom Car. A picture of it appeared in the May '22 issue with the caption 'a definite survivor'. I believe the customiser was very sympathetic to the car's originality. The door cards appear to be intact under the fur and there is nothing stopping you from putting the car back to standard if you so wished, although the original wheels and exhaust pipe have not been retained.
Although my tenure has only been brief, I have very much enjoyed driving the car to custom car shows and meets. The organiser of the Krispy Kreme meet in New Malden declared it 'car of the day' at March's gathering and it received so much positive attention at Wheels Day.
While it has some very minor cosmetic blemishes, you can see from the photographs that it's all generally in excellent condition. The engine is an unmodified 1500cc lump, so it's ideal for day-to-day use, although the side pipes are quite noisy. It has an MoT with no advisories until July. The only fault I really need to mention is in the interior. The square plastic cavity that the choke handle sits in has cracked, which has effectively rendered the choke cable unusable. However, I have not had any difficulty starting the car because it is possible (with a bit of awkward bending) to operate the choke with one hand while turning the key in the ignition with the other. It always fires up first time, though the carburettor may need some adjustment as it doesn't always idle well in traffic.
If you'd prefer to have the car put back to standard, that could be arranged (except for the wheels) as I have a friend who would be interested in transferring all the custom bits and pieces to his Vauxhall Firenza.
A full list of custom parts is as follows:
- Wolfrace slot mags
- Thrush Outsider side pipes
- Greg of Akron stick-on bonnet mural (very rare!)
- Front and rear spoilers
- Furry interior (with period 'Custom Car' floor mats!)
- Rear jack-up kit
- Cruising light
- Sebring-style wing mirrors
- Lots of historic stickers from well-known British custom magazines including Custom Car, Street Machine, Hot Rod & Custom and Hot Car, plus some Thrush and Esso 'Tiger' stickers
Besides all that, the Hillman boasts a very comprehensive paperwork file. Very thorough people, the Griffins were.
