In 1983 The Morris Minor Owners Club ventured across the English Channel on its first overseas rally. No-one realised that this first tentative step into European motoring would evolve into a keenly anticipated and well attended annual jaunt for Minor owners and enthusiasts with a sense of adventure.

From the small beginnings of a weekend in France, Minors On Tour (MOT) has developed a tradition of providing an enjoyable week-long camping holiday based around the late-May (Whitsun) Bank Holiday week.

As this time of the year is normally the school half-term break, MOT has become very much a family holiday, and year by year there has been a shift from those early days of adults in ‘pup-tents’ with just the most basic equipment that they could squeeze into their Minor, to trailer tents and caravans, catering not only for the Minor owners, but for the younger ‘Minorist’ as well.

With the advent of on-site ready erected tents and mobile homes, MOT has developed further, allowing those who have ceased to find any comfort in ground level camping in confined spaces to continue to be part of the trip.

Venues vary, but the majority of MOT’s have been somewhere in France, a land of many different cultures, customs, cuisine and countryside.

From rugged northern coastline, through rolling ‘big sky’, mountains and canyons, to the azure seas of the Mediterranean, there seems to be a view round every turn in the road.

Hundreds of regional culinary specialities, numerous smooth, tangy or strange looking cheeses, and varieties of wines and beers, far too many to count, delicious breads, tarts, cakes and pastries await your delectation.

Whilst France has had the pleasure of our company for the majority of MOT’s so far, there have been trips to The Netherlands, Luxembourg and Switzerland in the early days, and more recently to Germany. You can find out more about previous trips by clicking on the national flags on the top of this page, or the linkbar on the left.

The future? So many MMOC members, both from the UK and from mainland Europe, regularly take part in MOT that, as long as someone is prepared to organise this now traditional part of Minoring life, it is impossible to foresee a year without it.

Usually alternating annually between long and short distance trips, MOT is very much a do-as-you-please affair. In the early days, discount block booked ferry crossings meant that the trip started with everyone meeting on Dover dockside. However, the advent of Eurotunnel, and the now highly competitive nature of ferry travel, inevitably saw the demise of cheap crossings to France. Participants now book their preferred method and time of travel, and are free to arrive and leave the campsite when they please.

Whilst thare are various things organised during the week of MOT, some of which you can see by clicking on ‘What We Do On MOT” on the linkbar on the right, nothing is compulsory, you are free to do what you wish. Some of the events are intended to raise money for charity, and are hopefully entertaining, so your involvement would be welcomed.

This website was started in the year of the 21st MOT, and by it’s very nature will never be finished. It is intended to be a record of all of the previous overseas trips, and we need the help of all previous participants to built it into something that the Morris Minor Owners Club, and those who have enjoyed the experience of MOT, will be proud of.
If you are a previous participant, would you please have a look at the link ‘COULD YOU HELP’  at the top of each page.

Whether you have been on an MOT, or you have yet to take the plunge, please feel free to leave your comments on this or any other page.

MOT is a holiday for members of the Morris Minor Owners Club. If you are a Morris Minor owner but not yet a member of the Club, have a look at the MMOC website for membership details and a whole lot more.

We hope that you enjoy exploring this website, and urge you to log on regularly, as the site will be updated frequently. Keep an eye on ”Thinking of coming’ section as details will be published when they become available.