Morris

Oxford cycle and motor agent William Morris sold his first car, the two-seater Morris-Oxford, in 1913. Costing £180, it was powered by a 1017cc engine by White and Poppe, with the gearbox in unit. Rear axle was by E. G. Wrigley, wheels by Sankey and bodywork by Raworth of Oxford.

Morris. (England) 1913 to date.
It was, in effect, an assembled job, but a good one. The Oxford was joined in 1915 by the 1496cc engined Cowley with engine/gearbox by the Continental Motors Company of Detroit, USA. Production began again in earnest after World War One with copies of the US engine being manufactured by Hotchkiss of Coventry. One major difference between the two engines was that the Coventry-built model had a cork clutch that ran in oil, one of the few contributions Morris made to detailed engine design!

The "Bullnose" Oxfords and the more austere Cowleys were destined to become the best-selling British cars of the decade. In 1921 Morris made a sensational series of price cuts and never looked back. In 1923 an 1802cc engine was offered as an option in the Oxford, this being standardized from 1924. Both models remained in production until 1926, though the peak production year was 1925 when 54,151 cars were built, representing 41 per cent of new car production in Britain. The 1927 season saw the appearance of the less inspiring "Flatnose" models, though the 2 1/2-litre Empire model failed to woo the export market for which it had been designed.

Although a few sixes had been made earlier, it was not until 1928 that Morris adopted this engine configuration in a big way with an ohc 2 1/2-litre car, a reminder that Wolseley, who were firm adherents to this engine layout, had been purchased the previous year. Morris's entry into the small-car market came in 1929 with the ohc 847cc Minor (also of Wolseley parentage). The ohc engine was dropped from the Minor in 1931 (though it had been successfully used in the MG Midget), being replaced by a simple side-valve unit the two-seater version selling for ?100. Lockheed hydraulic brakes first appeared on the six-cylinder Morrises of 1930 and during the following four years the whole range was converted.

The early 1930s were poor years for Morris, and 1933 witnessed the appearance of the 1.3-litre 10/4: Morris hit the production jackpot again with his 918cc Series 1 Eight of 1935, a season in which, incidentally, he offered no less than 32 different models! The Eight continued in production until 1938, by which time 250,000 had been built, making it the best-selling car of the decade. It was replaced for the 1939 season by the Series E Eight with completely new bodywork and faired-in headlamps. Although the Eight was Cowley's best-seller, the Morris range at this time boasted four other models, ranging from the 10/4 to the 3 1/2-litre 25. All, with the exception of the Eight, were fitted with ohv engines:1939 was also a significant year for Morris in that the Series M 1140cc Ten marked the company's first foray into integral construction.

The immediate post-war years saw the reappearance of the pre-war Eight and Ten, though a major landmark came in 1948, with the announcement of the Issigonis-designed Minor, initially powered by the 916cc Series E engine, and featuring torsion bar ifs, rack-and-pinion steering and 14-inch road wheels. It remained in production until 1971 and was the first British car to sell over a million examples. The ohv Austin 803cc engine from the A30 was fitted from 1953 and the capacity progressively increased to 1098cc.

The sv 1476cc Oxford and series MS Six, powered by an ohc 2.2-litre engine, also appeared at the same time as the Minor, and shared similarly styled bodywork. The creation of the British Motor Corporation in 1952 by the merging of the Austin and Morris companies inevitably resulted in rationalization, with the Cowley and more powerful Oxford receiving ohv Longbridge engines in 1954, the former 1200cc model appearing the same year. By 1959, the appearance of the Farina-bodied l 1/2-litre saloon meant that the differences between the Cowley and Longbridge products were less marked.

The sensational Issigonis-designed front-wheel-drive 848cc Mini of the same year was sold under the Mini Minor name tag, while a logical progression was the best-selling 1100 of 1963, both those models later being available under the Austin banner. The year 1968 saw the engulfment of BMC by Leyland Motors to form British Leyland. A result of this new corporation was the Marina model of 1971, with a conventional engine and gearbox layout and rear-wheel drive,1.3- and 1.8-litre engine options being available. The following year came the front-wheel-drive 2200 model. For 1979 the range consisted of 14 variations on the Marina theme.

(Vintage European Automobiles)