Aberystwyth Wales UK, Friday 31 October 2014 84 year old retired train driver JOHN DAVIES of Aberystwyth UK, with his green Morris Minor 1000 car, DFF 224C, as it turns over the 300,000 mile mark on the day before its 49th birthday. The car was first registered on Nov 1 1965, and has been used by John virtually every day since he got it from his brother in 1984. Credit: keith morris/Alamy Live News
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Most cars struggle to get past 100, 000 miles before something finally gives up – but John Davies’ classic Morris Minor 1000 has already done three times that. Pensioner John’s 49-year-old motor has gone round the clock three times - having just pipped 300, 000 miles and shows no signs of hitting the scrap heap just yet. The two door car was registered on November 1 1965 but it has been so well looked after that Mr Davies, 84, can still rely on it when he goes out shopping. The retired train driver, from Aberystwyth, bought it from his brother, Arthur Davies, in the early 1980s. And he’s never thought about trading it in for a younger model since. He said: “My brother was the second owner and he bought the Morris Minor for £350. “Arthur left it at the garage one day and thought it would be scrapped, but I ended up driving it home and it was fine. “I paid £900 to get it all sorted and get it on the road and it’s still got the same engine it had when it was built.” “It slid on ice once and the roof caved in, so we had to get a new one. “But it’s only ever broken down once when a piston blew – and even then I managed to drive it up a hill and to the garage.” Mr Davies, who also used to work as an engineer at Bronglais General Hospital, gets the car serviced every year and also takes it to a specialist garage in Bristol for repairs. He attributes the cars longevity to doing everything by the book and has no plans to ever sell it. It costs around £70 to fill up the petrol tank, but these days he only spends £15 a fortnight on fuel. Mr Davies added: “I’m thinking about taking it down to Bristol soon to get some more work done – but I’ll need a co-driver with me now. “It was 2010 the last time I went and the door could do with some repairs. “They recommend getting it checked every four years. “I service it every year and last year I did 1, 153 miles in it. “Insurance for this year cost me £166.85, which isn’t too bad. “Bu