Whakatāne dentist's labour of 'ridiculous love'

It was one of Britain's most popular cars — no, not the Mini.

We all know what a Morris Minor is, but what about a Morris Minor Million?

Manufacturer British Motor Corporation produced the lilac-coloured limited-edition car in 1961 to mark the manufacturing of 1 million Morris Minors. There were 349 of them built in total — the first time a British manufacturer had ever built such an amount.

There are only 49 Morris Millions in existence worldwide, and one of them is parked up in Whakatāne.

Dentist John Twaddle is the lucky owner, and he couldn't be prouder — even more so after his Morris Million won the Best Show award at a Morris Minor Convention.

"It's so beautiful, I'm scared to even take it out now — just in case it gets road dirt on it," Twaddle told Breakfast.

"People can't understand why I would have a car that colour."

Twaddle said he bought the classic car online.

"I happened to be looking up on eBay and saw there was a Morris Million stored in a shed in Lisburn, Ireland. It was advertised as being in immaculate condition. I thought, look, I can import it and I won't have to spend any money on it.

"And that was the first fallacy," he said. "Never trust anything you buy on eBay."

When the car arrived in New Zealand, it needed a little work.

"It was high-quality rust," he shared. "The whole floor pan was rusted out, most of the bodywork... and I was tempted once I saw how bad it was just to take it to the dump.

"But I decided because it was so rare, maybe I should spend a bit of time trying to resurrect it with a little help from local technicians, mechanics, painters and everybody."

The restoration project took a while.

"It's taken about 10 years," said Twaddle. "About three years in the panel beaters where they worked on it when they had time. And when it came out of there, it had painting and upholstery, and bits and pieces.

"It's taken a long time to get it in the state it's in now."

Twaddle acknowledged that bringing the car back to its former glory was a labour of love — or as he put it, "ridiculous love".

Now that the car's back on the road, he plans to let others marvel at its lilac loveliness.

"I've got to enjoy it, but I think the other part is that other people get to see it and enjoy it. So I'll be out on the road a bit more."

And, yes, like most car owners who have a strong bond with their vehicles, Twaddle has a moniker for his Morris Million.

"I call her Millie because I've got three Morris Minors — so they're Millie, Molly and Mandy."