Filmmaker Welby Ings (left) and his panelbeater mate Alan Nelson bonded over working on the Morry Minor.
Filmmaker, educator, author and artist Dr Welby Ings can now add a new passion to his resumé - car builder.
Born and raised in Pukeatua, Welby describes himself as having graduated from the local primary school as bin monitor. Until he was 15 he couldn’t read or write.
Now he is a professor in design at Auckland University of Technology and an adjunct lecturer at numerous international universities, recipient of the Prime Minster’s inaugural Supreme Award for Tertiary Teaching Excellence, a designer and artist, author of books on education and writer and director of a series of award-winning short films and the acclaimed feature film Punch.
It was during the preparations for Punch that he discovered a new passion - mucking about with cars.
In the film, the main character, teenager Jim, drives a 1950s Morris Minor.
While he was still writing the film, Welby bought the Morris from Trade Me for $150.
“Jim wouldn’t have a lot of money, so I wanted to add authenticity by buying a cheap car and making it work in much the same way as Jim does in the film,” says Welby.
“What I didn’t expect was to fall in love with the process and the car.”
Welby thought Jim would be able to afford to strip the car, but not paint it, so that is how it appears in the film.
It was this thought process that actually helped Welby finish writing the script and developing Jim’s character.
The Morris is an important part of the film because it is Jim’s ‘pride and joy’ and gives him independence and mobility.
To get the car up and running for the movie the original engine, gearbox and rear end were swapped out for the proven and reliable Datsun 1200 engine (designation Nissan A12) and running gear, including brakes and suspension.
While the purist might wince, the Nissan A12 engine actually has Morris DNA. It is a refinement of the Nissan E engine of the 1960s, which was itself a development, under licence to the Austin Motor Company, of the 1950s BMC B-Series engine used by Austin and Morris in the cars of the era.
Initially, Welby wasn’t sure what would happen to the car after filming, but having developed an interest in the whole automotive process, he decided to continue and finish the car as a tribute to both the history of the Morris brand and his film - then put it back on Trade Me to complete the cycle and start a new era for the little car.
He would have liked to keep it more stripped back, but says for the sake of making it roadworthy and appealing to a buyer, he decided it needed paint and a few creature comforts.
But even then he couldn’t resist putting his own stamp on the Morris and indulging his design abilities.
The car was given a coat of paint, but it is a bespoke dark grey colour that changes tone depending on conditions.
He also designed the Morris Minor Packs A Punch logo that adorns the battery and the name Pirau - the film’s fictional town based on Te Awamutu’s core layout - is spelt out in chrome lettering across the boot and the side mirror mount is made from the spray gun nozzle.
Welby left the door cards off so the working mechanisms are exposed, and applied a paint treatment that looks old-school and industrial.
The dash got a similar treatment and the upholstery was left as original as possible, although the well-worn front seats did get tidied up.
While Welby enjoyed putting his creative stamp on the car, he says one of the main benefits was that it gave him an excuse to hang out with a mate and panel beater Alan Nelson on Sunday afternoons.
“I can see why people are so passionate about this hobby,” he says.
“We would open the shed and often get bugger all done as passers-by would stop for a chat and share stories about their Morry experiences.”
He also says the Morris club was amazingly helpful, finding and providing parts and giving welcomed and useful advice.
“I love that this country is full of passionate and generous people,” he says.
Now that the Morry is finished it will soon be listed, although Welby doesn’t seem in too much of a hurry. And he admits if it doesn’t sell he won’t be too upset.
But he expects someone else will fall in love with the car and its references to its real history and its fictional one.
Dean Taylor is the editor of the Te Awamutu Courier and a community reporter with 35 years of experience.