Being in the colonies, we got all the export stuff as you might imagine. My Morris minor has a dusty road oil bath air filter rather than the steel mesh that the UK got for example. Generally stuff like exhausts and air filters I find to be different on many small engines. But it extends to Japanese imports as well, my mitsubishi ute has different steel pressings in the tray. And sometimes the paint and interior of things are local market specific. All because of import tariffs, a certain percentage of things had to be made local to avoid large taxes on imported goods. Also why things were imported as CKD complete knock down kits to assemble here. Keep the locals working
Hi. Yes as you say the colonies must have had quite a lot , and probably cars more than anything. As a manufacture Export must have been a very important part your business. Some of the differences must have been made for local conditions and needs, like your Morris minors air filter needed to be an oil bath to cope your conditions. Thanks for your comment.
Regarding the date, I think 1975 is certainly very close. I have a similar '72 brochure (not accessible right now) but from memory everything looks about the same. I believe that by the later 70's the plastic air filter was being used. I have a 12" model that was purchased many years ago from the original owner who said he bought it in 1976. That looks identical to the brochure other than it had a plastic air filter.
I forgot to say, I also have a 14" model from what I'm guessing is about 1970ish. It had the metal air cleaner and also the earlier alloy recoil unit. So I'd guess that would be one of the early alloy sided 'super' models?
Yes, I suppose if you were a real fashion expert it would be quite easy to put a date on the catalog, but I am glad you have come up with a more accurate date. I do have an 80s Qualcast / Suffolk parts catalog which have some dates. It would be interesting to see your Qualcast / Suffolk brochure when you find it. The earlier cast Suffolk recoils were much better than those newer White / Black plastic ones. Thanks for your comment.
