ONE FAMILY FROM NEW – A MORRIS OXFORD TAXI IN GREECE

Any Morris Oxford Series VI is a car worthy of great respect – especially this 1969 example owned by Costas Georgopoulos. His father acquired it new, and the Farina served the family and the Peloponnese seaport town Nafplio as a taxi for many years.

Fifty-two years ago, Mr. Georgopoulos Snr was looking for a dependable and reasonably priced cab. Costas observes that he first considered a Mercedes-Benz, the brand favoured by cabbies worldwide – but he was not keen, and the cost was too great. A Citroën might have been a viable choice, but there were problems with the parts imported to Greece.

Costas’ aunt sent his father details and a brochure for an American model, but it was also too expensive. A further problem was the fuel bills from the large engine. However, when Mr. Georgopoulos Snr first saw the Morris ‘he loved it - he used to say that it was his big love. My father wanted a car at a good price and with no problems - he decided to buy the Oxford. When he touched the fender and the hood and listened to the engine, he was sure about it’.

By 1969 the Oxford Series VI’s days may have been numbered - the replacement Marina 1.8 debuted in 1971 – but it remained a favourite of British cabbies for another decade. The Farina was a rather handsome machine in addition to being robust and having a very large boot. It was also a six-seater when ordered with the optional steering column gear change, although it helped if the occupants were very close friends.

The Georgopoulos Farina was to travel all over Greece, and Costas remembers ‘we always had nice trips’. During this time, his father never had any problems with the engine or any other aspect of the Oxford. On its retirement in 1982, Mr. Georgopoulos Snr bought a Volvo. This was eventually sold ‘many years later’, but he informed the family ‘don’t even think about telling me to sell the Morris’.

Mr. Georgopoulos Snr died in 2000, and Costas is now the Farina’s custodian. It will star in another blog once it has been returned to the road. Today, the Oxford is still remembered in Nafplio – ‘sometimes when people ask me about my father, they also ask me if we have the car. The only taxi driver in my town that had a Morris was my father. And even now, old cabbies say to me, “it was a great car’.

Perhaps the greatest testaments to the Oxford, in Costa’s words, ‘Everything we have, even our house comes from my father’s work with Morris’. Even more importantly:

‘This car and my dad saved my life. When I was born in 1977, I couldn’t breathe, and the doctors in our local hospital couldn’t do anything. My father decided to take me to a bigger hospital in Athens, 130 km away from my town, with no good roads or highways. It took him one hour and seventeen minutes in this car - that’s why I love it!’

With Thanks To: Costas Georgopoulos and the Cambridge-Oxford Owners’ Club.