The Morris Minor is a British

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

family car A family car is a car classification used in Europe to describe normally-sized cars. The name comes from the marketed use of these cars to carry a whole family locally or on vacations. Most family cars are hatchbacks or sedans, although there are ...

that made its debut at the

Earls Court Earl's Court is a district of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London, bordering the rail tracks of the West London line and District line that separate it from the ancient borough of Fulham to the west, the ...

Motor Show, London, in October 1948. Designed under the leadership of

Alec Issigonis Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis (18 November 1906 – 2 October 1988) was a British-Greek automotive designer. He designed the Mini, launched by the British Motor Corporation in 1959, and voted the second most influential car of t ...

, more than 1.6 million were manufactured between 1948 and 1972 in three series: the Series MM (1948 to 1953), the Series II (1952 to 1956), and the 1000 series (1956 to 1971). Initially available as a two-door saloon and

tourer Touring car and tourer are both terms for open cars (i.e. cars without a fixed roof). "Touring car" is a style of open car built in the United States which seats four or more people. The style was popular from the early 1900s to the 1930s. Th ...

(convertible), the range was expanded to include a four-door saloon from September 1950. A wood-framed

estate car A station wagon ( US, also wagon) or estate car ( UK, also estate), is an automotive body-style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door ( ...

(the Traveller) from October 1953 and

panel van A panel van, also known as a blind van, car-derived van (United Kingdom) or sedan delivery (United States), is a small cargo vehicle with a passenger car chassis, typically with a single front bench seat and no side windows behind the B-pillar. ...

and

pick-up truck A pickup truck or pickup is a light-duty truck that has an enclosed cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (this cargo bed back end sometimes consists of a tailgate and removable covering) ...

variants from May 1953. It was the first British car to sell over a million units, and is considered a classic example of automotive design, as well as typifying "Englishness". Although Morris launched a new model with a similar name and a similar market positioning, the Morris Mini in 1959, the Minor remained in production for more than a decade after that, and inearly 2020, its 23-year production run was counted as the twenty-eighth most long-lived single generation car in history by Autocar magazine, who called it: "... a primary way Britain got back on the road after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Development

Origins

The Minor was conceived in 1941. Although the

Nuffield Organization Nuffield Organization was the unincorporated umbrella-name or promotional name used for the charitable and commercial interests of owner and donor, William Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield. The name was assumed following Nuffield's gift made to form ...

was heavily involved in war work and a governmental ban existed on civilian car production, Morris Motors' vice chairman,

Miles Thomas (William) Miles Webster Thomas, Baron Thomas DFC (2 March 1897 – 8 February 1980), Vic Oak, the company's chief engineer, had already brought to Thomas' attention a promising junior engineer,

, who had been employed at Morris since 1935 and specialised in

suspension Suspension or suspended may refer to: Science and engineering * Suspension (topology), in mathematics * Suspension (dynamical systems), in mathematics * Suspension of a ring, in mathematics * Suspension (chemistry), small solid particles suspende ...

design, but he had frequently impressed Oak with his advanced ideas about car design in general. Issigonis had come to Oak's particular attention with his work on the new

Morris Ten The Morris Ten announced 1 September 1932Cars Of 1933. ''The Times'', Thursday, Sep 01, 1932; pg. 7; Issue 46227. (907 words) is a medium-sized car introduced for 1933 as the company's offering in the important 10 hp sector of the British ...

, which was in development during 1936/7. This was the first Morris to use unitary construction and was conceived with

independent front suspension Independent suspension is any automobile suspension system that allows each wheel on the same axle to move vertically (i.e. reacting to a bump on the road) independently of the others. This is contrasted with a beam axle or deDion axle system in ...

. Issigonis designed a coil-sprung wishbone system, which was later dropped on cost grounds. Although the design was later used on the

MG Y-type The MG Y-Type is an automobile produced by MG in England from 1947 to 1953. It was offered in four-door saloon and limited production open four-seat tourer versions. When production ceased, 8,336 "Y" Types had been produced, 6,131 of which we ...

and many other postwar MGs, the Morris Ten entered production with a front

beam axle A beam axle, rigid axle or solid axle is a dependent suspension design in which a set of wheels is connected laterally by a single beam or shaft. Beam axles were once commonly used at the rear wheels of a vehicle, but historically they have als ...

. Despite his brief being to focus on the Ten's suspension, Issigonis had also drawn up a rack and pinion steering system for the car. Like his suspension design, this was not adopted, but resurfaced in the postwar years on the MG Y-type. These ideas showed that he was the perfect candidate to lead the design work on a new advanced small car. With virtually all resources required for the war effort, Thomas nonetheless approved the development of a new small family car that would replace the

Morris Eight The Morris Eight is a small family car produced by Morris Motors from 1935 to 1948. It was inspired by the sales popularity of the Ford Model Y, styling of which the Eight closely followed. The success of the car enabled Morris to regain its posi ...

. Although Oak (and Morris's technical director, Sidney Smith) were in overall charge of the project, Issigonis was ultimately responsible for the design, working with only two other

draughtsmen A drafter (also draughtsman / draughtswoman in British and Commonwealth English, draftsman / draftswoman or drafting technician in American and Canadian English) is an engineering technician who makes detailed technical drawings or plans fo ...

: (William)Jack Daniels.The Independent, 2 Dec 2004, Obituary. Jack Daniels. Draughtsman to Issigonis on the Mini
/ref> The Guardian, 15 December 2004, Obituary. Jack Daniels, He realised the vision of Alec Issigonis for the Morris Minor and Mini
/ref> Thomas named the project 'Mosquito' and ensured that it remained as secret as possible, both from the Ministry of Supply and from company founder William Morris (

Lord Nuffield William Richard Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield, (10 October 1877 – 22 August 1963) was an English motor manufacturer and philanthropist. He was the founder of Morris Motors Limited and is remembered as the founder of the Nuffield Foundation, ...

), who was still chairman of Morris Motors, and as widely expected, would not look favourably on Issigonis' radical ideas. Issigonis' overall concept was to produce a practical, economical, and affordable car for the general public that would equal, or even surpass, the convenience and design quality of a more expensive car. In later years he summed up his approach to the Minor; that he wanted to design an

economy car Economy car is a term mostly used in the United States for cars designed for low-cost purchase and operation. Typical economy cars are small (compact or subcompact), lightweight, and inexpensive to both produce and purchase. Stringent design const ...

that "the average man would take pleasure in owning, rather than feeling of it as something he'd been sentenced to" and "people who drive small cars are the same size as those who drive large cars and they should not be expected to put up with claustrophobic interiors." Issigonis wanted the car to be as spacious as possible for its size, and comfortable to drive for inexperienced motorists. Just as he would with the

Mini The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...

10 years later, he designed the Mosquito with excellent

roadholding Road-holding – also written as roadholding and road holding – (in French being called "tenue de route", in German "Beibehaltung der Spur"), is essentially determined by the ability of a vehicle to stay on the road and on a desired trajectory of ...

and accurate, quick steering, not with any pretence of making a

sports car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

, but to make it safe and easy to drive by everyone.

Original design features

Issigonis' design included the same ideas he had proposed for the Ten before the war: independent suspension, rack and pinion steering, and unitary construction. In the case of the Mosquito, Issigonis was inspired by the Citroën Traction Avant, a car he greatly admired, and he proposed using torsion bars on each wheel, as on the Citroën, rather than the usual

coil spring A selection of conical coil springs The most common type of spring is the coil spring, which is made out of a long piece of metal that is wound around itself. Coil springs were in use in Roman times, evidence of this can be found in bronze Fib ...

system. The French car, launched in 1934, had also been an early example of the use of rack and pinion steering. Nearly every feature of the Minor served the joint aims of good handling and maximum interior space. For example, Issigonis specified wheels for the Mosquito, with 5.20-14 Dunlop Crossply tyres, (145R14 is the radial alternative). These were smaller than any other production car of the time (the existing Morris Eight had wheels). These small wheels reduced intrusion into the cabin space and minimised the car's

unsprung mass The unsprung mass (colloquially unsprung weight) of a vehicle is the mass of the suspension, wheels or tracks (as applicable), and other components directly connected to them. This contrasts with the sprung mass (or weight) supported by th ...

, giving better ride comfort and stability. For the same reasons, the wheels themselves were placed as far as possible towards each corner of the Mosquito's floorpan. The same went for the placement of the engine, as far as possible towards the front of the engine compartment. Most cars of the time had a front beam axle, which forced the engine to be mounted behind the front axle line. While this meant that, with only a driver on board, the weight distribution was fairly even, when laden with passengers, cars often became severely tail-heavy, leading to unstable handling and

oversteer Understeer and oversteer are vehicle dynamics terms used to describe the sensitivity of a vehicle to steering. Oversteer is what occurs when a car turns (steers) by more than the amount commanded by the driver. Conversely, understeer is what occ ...

. The new Morris's independent suspension meant there was no front axle, allowing the engine to be placed low down and far forward. Putting the Mosquito's engine in the nose meant that the car was nose-heavy when lightly laden, leading to superior directional stability, and when fully laden it achieved nearly equal weight balance, so handling and grip remained good regardless of the load carried. Placing the engine further forward also maximised cabin space. As proposed by Issigonis, the engine itself was also radical, being a water-cooled

flat-four A flat-four engine, also known as a horizontally opposed-four engine, is a four-cylinder piston engine with two banks of cylinders lying on opposite sides of a common crankshaft. The most common type of flat-four engine is the boxer-four engine, ...

unit. One of Miles Thomas's few restrictions on the Mosquito project was that it had to have an engine that would not fall afoul of the British horsepower tax, which taxed cars under a formula relating to their engine cylinder bore. At the same time, Thomas wanted the car to appeal to the all-important export markets, which had no such restrictions, and generally favoured larger-engined cars. Issigonis' solution was the flat-four engine, which could easily be produced in two versions – a narrow-bore 800-cc version for the British market and a wide-bore 1100-cc version for export. Both versions would use identical parts, except for the actual cylinder blocks (which could still be produced on the same machinery) and the pistons. The flat-four layout reduced the overall length of the engine, further increasing potential cabin space, and reduced the car's centre of gravity for improved handling.

Pre-production changes

The engine was to prove a step too far for the Mosquito project. As the car approached completion in 1946, the war was over and secrecy was no longer necessary or possible to maintain, as more and more Morris staff and executives had to be involved to start production. Many were pessimistic about the radical car's prospects and especially the huge cost in tooling up for a design that shared no parts with any existing Morris product. Lord Nuffield himself took a strong dislike to both the Mosquito and Issigonis, famously saying that the prototype resembled a poached egg. Nuffield preferred to continue production of the conventional Morris Eight, which succeeded very well before the war, with some minor styling and engineering improvements. He particularly objected to the Mosquito's expensive and unconventional engine design. Whatever Nuffield's personal views, all of the Mosquito's radical features were looking increasingly unlikely to be implemented while maintaining an acceptable final purchase price and without incurring too much setup costs at the Cowley factory. Thomas and Vic Oak drew up a plan to create a three-model range of cars using Issigonis' design - the Mosquito with an 800-cc engine, a mid-sized model (tentatively designated the Minor after a previous small Morris launched in 1928) with an 1100-cc engine, and a new

Morris Oxford Morris Oxford is a series of motor car models produced by Morris of the United Kingdom, from the 1913 ''bullnose'' Oxford to the ''Farina'' Oxfords V and VI. Named by W R Morris after ''the city of dreaming spires'', the university town in which ...

with a 1500-cc version of the engine, all sharing different-sized variants of the same

platform Platform may refer to: Technology * Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run * Platform game, a genre of video games * Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models * Weapons platform, a system or ...

and with sporting MG and luxury Wolseley versions to achieve further

economies of scale In microeconomics, economies of scale are the cost advantages that enterprises obtain due to their scale of operation, and are typically measured by the amount of output produced per unit of time. A decrease in cost per unit of output enables ...

. There was also the matter of timing – a big rush existed for British manufacturers to get new models to market following the end of the war. Austin was known to be working on an all-new but conventional car, which would be launched in 1947. The Mosquito was proposed for launch in 1949 and that deadline was appearing increasingly unlikely due to the untried nature of many of the car's features. The Morris board insisted on launching the Mosquito at the first postwar

British Motor Show The British International Motor Show is an annual motor show held by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders between 1903 and 2008 in England, and as The British Motor Show since 2021 by Automotion Events. Initially held in London at T ...

in October 1948. This meant that several of Issigonis' proposals were reviewed – first the all-independent torsion bar suspension was changed for a torsion-sprung live rear axle and this was then substituted by a conventional

leaf-sprung A leaf spring is a simple form of spring commonly used for the suspension in wheeled vehicles. Originally called a ''laminated'' or ''carriage spring'', and sometimes referred to as a semi-elliptical spring, elliptical spring, or cart spring, i ...

arrangement. All of Miles Thomas' suggestions for spreading the cost of developing the new car and broadening the design's appeal were treated sceptically by the Morris board and vetoed by Lord Nuffield. It became clear that the only way to overcome the personal and financial obstacles to the project was to adopt a lightly revised version of the Morris Eight's obsolete

side-valve A flathead engine, also known as a sidevalve engine''American Rodder'', 6/94, pp.45 & 93. or valve-in-block engine is an internal combustion engine with its poppet valves contained within the engine block, instead of in the cylinder head, as ...

engine. Thomas resigned his position at Morris Motors over the debacle. Despite the changes the fundamental principles of Issigonis' concept – a spacious cabin, small wheels at each corner, a forward-placed engine, rack and pinion steering, and independent torsion-bar front suspension – remained. While Thomas had been battling for the Mosquito's future, Issigonis had been settling the car's styling. Although in his later career he became known for very functional designs, Issigonis was heavily influenced by the modern styling of American cars, especially the

Packard Clipper The Packard Clipper is an automobile which was built by the Packard Motor Car Company (and by the later Studebaker-Packard Corporation) for model years 1941–1942, 1946–1947 and 1953–1957. For 1956 only, Clipper was classified as a stand-a ...

and the

Buick Super The Buick Super is a full-sized automobile produced by Buick from 1940 through the 1958 model years, with a brief hiatus from 1943 through 1945. The first generation shared the longer wheelbase with the top level Roadmaster while offering the sma ...

. A new feature was a low-set headlamps, integral with the grille panel (Issigonis had originally sketched hidden lamps concealed behind sections of the grille, but these were never implemented). The original Mosquito prototype, which drew Lord Nuffield's "poached egg" comment, was designed with similar proportions to prewar cars, being relatively narrow for its length. In late 1947, with Cowley already tooling up for production, Issigonis was unhappy with the appearance of the car. He had the prototype cut lengthways and the two halves moved apart until it looked "right". The production model was thus 4 inches (10 cm) wider than the prototype, and in keeping with Issigonis' design principles, this further improved interior space and roadholding. It also gave the car distinctive (and recognisably modern) proportions – contrast with the

Austin A30 The Austin A30 is a small family car produced by Austin from May 1952 to September 1956. It was launched at the 1951 Earls Court Motor Show as the "''New'' Austin Seven" and was Austin's competitor with the Morris Minor. At launch, the car co ...

, launched in 1952, but still recognisably prewar in size and proportions. The last-minute change to the design required a number of workarounds – bumpers had already been produced, so early cars had ones cut in half with a four-inch plate bolted between the joint. The bonnet had a flat fillet section added to its centreline and the floorpan had two two-inch sections added either side of the transmission tunnel.

From Mosquito to Minor

The last change made was to the car's name. The Mosquito codename was widely expected to be the name of the production model, but Nuffield disliked it. Also, Issigonis' last-minute size increase and the fitment of the larger-than-planned sidevalve engine needed to be considered; while still a small car, the new Morris was no longer the ultra-compact

that it had been on the drawing board, and the Mosquito name seemed inappropriate. Morris's marketing department wanted a reassuring name for what it worried would be an innovative, radical car that would be difficult to sell to a cautious public. So, the Minor name, intended for the midsized model in Thomas' planned trio of new cars, was adopted for what would become the smallest postwar Morris. The original 1928 Morris Minor had itself introduced a number of innovative features and had been the first four-wheeled car to sell for £100. The new Morris Minor was launched at the British Motor Show at

in London on 27 October 1948. The original range consisted solely of a two-door saloon or a two-door tourer with a 918-cc engine and a starting price of £358. At the same show, Morris also launched the new

and Morris Six models, plus Wolseley variants of both cars, which were scaled-up versions of the new Minor, incorporating all the same features and designed with Issigonis' input under Oak's supervision. Thus, Issigonis' ideas and design principles underpinned the complete postwar Morris and Wolseley car ranges, although not the same extent that Miles Thomas had initially proposed.

Minor ‘Series MM’

The Series MM type Minor was produced from late 1948 until early 1953. It included a pair of four-seat

saloons Saloon may refer to: Buildings and businesses * One of the bars in a traditional British pub * An alternative name for a bar (establishment) * Western saloon, a historical style of American bar * The Saloon, a bar and music venue in San Francisc ...

, two-door and (from 1950) a four-door, and a

convertible A convertible or cabriolet () is a passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary among eras and manufacturers. A convertible car's design allows an open-air driving expe ...

four-seat Tourer. The front

torsion bar A torsion bar suspension, also known as a torsion spring suspension, is any vehicle suspension that uses a torsion bar as its main weight-bearing spring. One end of a long metal bar is attached firmly to the vehicle chassis; the opposite end termi ...

suspension shared its design with the larger

Morris Oxford MO Morris Oxford Series MO is an automobile produced by Morris Motors of the United Kingdom from 1948 to 1954. It was one of several models to carry the Morris Oxford name between 1913 and 1971. __TOC__ Saloon After the Second World War the 13.5 ...

, as was the almost-

unibody A vehicle frame, also historically known as its '' chassis'', is the main supporting structure of a motor vehicle to which all other components are attached, comparable to the skeleton of an organism. Until the 1930s, virtually every car ha ...

construction. Although the Minor was originally designed to accept a

flat-4 A flat-four engine, also known as a horizontally opposed-four engine, is a four-cylinder piston engine with two banks of cylinders lying on opposite sides of a common crankshaft. The most common type of flat-four engine is the boxer-four engine, ...

engine, late in the development stage it was replaced by a

inline-four engine A straight-four engine (also called an inline-four) is a four-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. The vast majority of automotive four-cylinder engines use a straight-four layout (with the ...

, little changed from that fitted in the early 1930s Morris Minor and Morris 8, with a bore of 57 mm but with the stroke of 90 mm and not 83 mm, and producing 27.5 hp (21 kW) and 39 lbf·ft (50.3 N·m) of

torque In physics and mechanics, torque is the rotational equivalent of linear force. It is also referred to as the moment of force (also abbreviated to moment). It represents the capability of a force to produce change in the rotational motion of th ...

. The engine pushed the Minor to just 64 mph (103 km/h) but delivered . Brakes were four-wheel drums. Early cars had a painted section in the centre of the bumpers to cover the widening of the production car from the prototypes. This widening of 4 inches (102 mm) is also visible in the creases in the

bonnet A Bonnet is a variety of headgear, hat or cap Specific types of headgear referred to as "bonnets" may include Scottish * Blue bonnet, a distinctive woollen cap worn by men in Scotland from the 15th-18th centuries And its derivations: ** Fea ...

. Exports to the United States began in 1949 with the headlamps removed from within the grille surround to be mounted higher on the

wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expre ...

to meet local safety requirements. In 1950 a four-door version was released, initially available only for export, and featuring from the start the headlamps faired into the wings rather than set lower down on either side of the grille. The raised headlight position became standard on all Minors in time for 1951. From the start, the Minor had semaphore-type turn indicators, and subsequent Minor versions persisted with these until 1961. An '' Autocar'' magazine road test in 1950 reported that these were "not of the usual self-cancelling type, but incorporate a time-basis return mechanism in a switch below the facia, in front of the driver". It was all too easy for a passenger hurriedly emerging from the front passenger seat to collide with and snap off a tardy indicator "flipper" that was still sticking out of the B-pillar, having not yet been safely returned by the time-basis return mechanism to its folded position. Another innovation towards the end of 1950 was a water pump (replacing a gravity dependent system), which permitted the manufacturer to offer an interior heater "as optional equipment". When production of the first series ended, just over a quarter of a million had been sold, 30% of them the convertible Tourer model. A 918 cc-engined tourer tested by the British magazine ''

The Motor ''The Motor'' (later, just ''Motor'') was a British weekly car magazine ''Car'' is a British automotive enthusiast magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. International editions are published by Bauer Automotive in Republi ...

'' in 1950 had a top speed of and could accelerate from 0– in 29.2 seconds. However, the 918 cc engine did 0–60 mph in 50+ seconds. A fuel consumption of was recorded. The test car cost £382 including taxes. File:1949 Morris Minor (6423685061).jpg, 1949 Morris Minor MM 2-door saloon 1949 Morris Minor Convertible - Flickr - The Car Spy (8).jpg, 1949 Minor MM tourer 1949 Morris Minor Convertible - Flickr - The Car Spy (1).jpg, 1949 Minor MM tourer with hood and flexible side curtains erected 1949 Morris Minor Convertible - Flickr - The Car Spy (16).jpg, Instrument panel Morris Minor flathead engine.jpg, 918cc side valve U series engine File:Morris Minor MM (1951) - 14404051008.jpg, 1951 Morris Minor MM Four-Door Saloon. Raised headlights were introduced with this bodystyle.

Minor Series II

In 1952, the Minor was substantially re-engineered following the merger of the

(Morris's parent company) with the Austin Motor Company to form the British Motor Corporation. As part of a rationalisation programme to reduce the production of duplicate components for similar vehicles, the Minor drivetrain was completely replaced with an Austin-derived engine, gearbox, propshaft, differential and axle casing. The more modern Austin-designed overhead valve A-series engine, which had been designed for the Minor's main rival, the

, was smaller in all dimensions, but nevertheless gave noticeable performance improvements over the pre-war side-valve Morris unit it replaced. The 52 second drive to 60 mph (97 km/h) was still calm, but top speed increased to 63 mph (101 km/h). Fuel consumption also rose to . An estate version was introduced in 1952, known as the Traveller (a Morris naming tradition for estates, also seen on the

). The Traveller featured an external structural

ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

(wood) frame for the rear bodywork, with two side-hinged rear doors. The frame was varnished rather than painted and a highly visible feature of the body style. Travellers were built alongside the saloon model at Cowley minus their rear bodies. The half-completed cars were then shipped to the MG factory at Abingdon where the bodies (built in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

) would be mated to the chassis and the final assembly carried out. This was because the main Cowley production lines were no longer fully equipped to deal with body-on-frame vehicles such as the Traveller while the MG lines still handled these sorts of cars and had experience working with wood-framed bodies. Commercial models, marketed as the Morris Quarter Ton Van and Pick-up were added in May 1953.Ray Newell, Morris Minor, 60 Years on the Road, pages 106 to 118 Rear bodies of the van versions were all steel. The four-seat convertible and saloon variants continued as well. In October 1954 the Minor's front end and interior styling was updated, with the addition of a horizontal slat grille, and a new dashboard with a central speedometer. Larger tail lights were also fitted by the end of the year. As Alec Issigonis had left BMC for Alvis in 1952 and wouldn't return until 1955, the Cowley design team led by Sid Goble undertook this series of design updates. These changes were announced at the London Motor Show in late October 1954. ''

'' magazine tested a four-door saloon in 1952. It reported a top speed of and acceleration from 0– in 28.6 seconds. A fuel consumption of was recorded. The test car cost £631 including taxes. The 803 cc '' A-Series''

used in the Series II produced at 4,800 rpm and of torque at 2,400 rpm 269,838 examples of the Series II had been built when production ended in 1956. 1953.morris.minor.rearview.arp.jpg, Minor four-door saloon
registered October 1953 Morris Minor Traveller - Flickr - exfordy (1).jpg, Minor Traveller
registered September 1954 File:Morris Minor Series II.jpg, Morris Minor Series II two-door saloon (with later horizontal slat grille) File:Oldtimer Expo 2008 - 015 - Morris Minor Cabriolet.jpg, Morris Minor Series II Tourer (with later horizontal slat grille)

Minor 1000

Series III

In 1956, the Minor received a major programme of updates intended to keep the car competitive into the 1960s. Where previously the Minor had been offered with a broad range of colours and trim options, the 'Minor 1000' (so named for its 948cc engine) shifted emphasis towards rationalisation of components to access improved

, and thus enabled increased production volumes to help the Minor retain a significant share of the small car market during a period where car ownership was becoming more commonplace. The dawn of the motorway era necessitated the fitting of a new 948cc (57.9 cu in) variant of the BMC A-Series engine, elevating top speed from to , and reducing 0-60 mph acceleration from 52.5 secs to 31.3 secs. Driving was further improved by a substantially revised gearbox, which incorporated taller ratios for more relaxed cruising speeds and a remote selector allowing a shorter gear lever and less ponderous gearchange action. This new engine and gearbox was the product of a broader engine policy at BMC, and had been developed for use in a range of their smaller vehicles, including the

Austin A35 The Austin A35 is a small family car that was sold by Austin from 1956 until 1968. About 280,897 A35s of all types were produced. Design Introduced in 1956, it replaced the highly successful Austin A30. The name reflected the larger and more ...

, A40 Farina, and

Austin-Healey Sprite The Austin-Healey Sprite is a small open sports car produced in the United Kingdom from 1958 until 1971. The Sprite was announced to the press in Monte Carlo by the British Motor Corporation on 20 May 1958, two days after that year's Monaco Gran ...

MG Midget The MG Midget is a small two-seater sports car produced by MG from 1961 to 1979. It revived a name that had been used on earlier models such as the MG M-type, MG D-type, MG J-type and MG T-type. MG Midget MkI (1961–64) The first version, ...

, to maximise parts sharing and thus reduce production costs, servicing costs and consumer costs across the model range. A series of changes to the body pressings for the roof/scuttle and bonnet panels yielded a large wraparound rear windscreen and one-piece curved front windscreen, which markedly improved visibility and lent a modernised appearance to the car at relatively small outlay. Many of the 'luxury' items, such as leather trim (except for the Tourer), were replaced with more durable and cheaper materials, and over the course of the following years the range of available paint and interior colours was dramatically reduced. Various unique Minor trim items and components (such as light units and heaters) were also gradually replaced with ubiquitous items from the BMC range. This programme of changes succeeded in giving access to improved

to allow production to be ramped up. By the turn of the 1960s, over 100,000 Minors were being produced per year, compared to fewer than 50,000 per year a decade earlier. In 1961 the semaphore-style

trafficators Trafficators are semaphore signals which, when operated, protrude from the bodywork of a motor vehicle to indicate its intention to turn in the direction indicated by the pointing signal. Trafficators are often located at the door pillar. Histo ...

were replaced by flashing direction indicators. These were US-style red at the rear (using the same bulb filament as the brake lamp) and white at the front (using a second brighter filament in the parking lamp bulb) which was legal in the UK and many export markets at the time (such as New Zealand). On the two door cars, the rear wings were modified to remove the openings for the trafficators; on the 4-door, the B-pillar pressing was modified to leave a ‘blank’ in place of the trafficator housing. An upmarket car based on the Minor floorpan using the larger BMC B-Series engine was sold as the

Riley One-Point-Five The Riley One-Point-Five and similar Wolseley 1500 are automobiles produced by Riley (automobile), Riley and Wolseley Motors, Wolseley respectively from 1957 until 1965. They utilised the Morris Minor floorpan, suspension and steering but were f ...

/Wolseley 1500 beginning in 1957: versions of this Wolseley/Riley variant were also produced by

BMC Australia British Motor Corporation (Australia) was a motor manufacturing company formed in Australia in 1954 by the merger of the Austin Motor Company (Australia) and Nuffield (Australia). This followed the merger in 1952 of the Austin Motor Company and ...

as the Morris Major and the Austin Lancer. 1960 Morris Minor 1000 2-door sedan (26676151933).jpg, Morris Minor 1000 Series III 2-door saloon 1962 Morris Minor 1000 sedan (18823882102).jpg, Morris Minor 1000 Series III 4-door saloon Morris Minor 1000 01.JPG, Morris Minor 1000 Convertible MM1000 4DS 1956 06 innen 2005.jpg, Series III Interior (1956–64)

Minor Million

In December 1960 the Morris Minor became the first British car to sell more than 1,000,000 units. To commemorate the achievement, a limited edition of 350 two-door Minor saloons (one for each UK Morris dealership) was produced with distinctive lilac paintwork and a white leather interior with black piping. The badge name on the side of the bonnet was modified to read "Minor 1000000" instead of the standard "Minor 1000". The millionth Minor was donated to the

National Union of Journalists The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) is a trade union for journalists in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was founded in 1907 and has 38,000 members. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). Structure There is ...

, which planned to use it as a prize in a competition in aid of the union's Widow and Orphan Fund. The company, at the same time, presented a celebratory Minor to London's Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children, but this car was constructed of cake.

Series V (ADO59)

The final major upgrade to the Minor was made in 1962. Although the name ''Minor 1000'' was retained, the changes were sufficient for the new model to be given its own ADO development number. Morris chassis numbering convention refers to these cars as 'Series V', the 'Series IV' designation having been assigned to the Morris Mini Minor. A new, larger version of the existing A-Series engine had been developed in conjunction with cylinder head specialist

Harry Weslake Weslake & Co also known as Weslake Research and Development was founded by Harry Weslake, described as England's greatest expert on cylinder head design, with premises in Rye, East Sussex, England. Weslake is most famous for its work with Bentley ...

for the then new ADO16 Austin/Morris 1100 range. This new engine used a taller block than the 948 cc unit, with increased bore and stroke bringing total capacity up to 1,098 cc. Although fuel consumption suffered moderately at 38 mpg, the Minor's top speed increased to 77 mph (124 km/h), and a 20% increase in torque gave an altogether more responsive drive. The revised engine was teamed to a stronger gearbox fitted with baulk ring synchromesh replacing the previous cone-clutch type. Drum brakes were retained on each corner, but the front units were increased from 7 inches (18 cm) to 8 inches (20 cm) in diameter. From October 1963, larger combined front side/indicator light units, common to many BMC vehicles of the time, were fitted to the front wings, and larger tail lamp units were fitted at the rear. Both incorporated separate amber flashers for directional indicators. In 1964 the interior received its final update, with a new heater unit (now with fresh air ventilation), and from October of that year, a modified dashboard with toggle switches, white-on-black speedometer unit (incorporating a warning light for a blocked oil filter), textured alloy fascia, new glove-box cover design (a fully enclosing bottom-hinged cover on the passenger side, and fixed open aperture surround on the driver's side), and finally a two-spoke 'safety' steering wheel (shared with the

Morris 1100 Year 1100 ( MC) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 1100th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 100th year of the 2nd millennium, the 100th and ...

) were added. From 1965, no further major production improvements were made to the Minor, with resource being channelled into improving the ADO16 (the Minor's spiritual successor and Britain's best-selling car in the 1960s), and development of the

Morris Marina The Morris Marina is a front-engined, rear-wheel-drive small family car that was manufactured by the Austin-Morris division of British Leyland from 1971 until 1980. It served to replace the Morris Minor in the Morris product line, which ...

, which would succeed the Minor on the Cowley production lines in 1971. In 1969, production of the Traveller variants was moved to the ex- Wolseley plant at Adderley Park, where the van and pick-up models were already made. This freed up production space at Cowley and simplified the production chain as the Traveller's rear bodies were built at the Morris Bodies factory in

. Adderley Park-built Travellers were offered in a new range of colours from the paint range that had been introduced for 1970, including vibrant shades such as Limeflower (

lime green Lime commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Botany ...

) and Aqua (

turquoise Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrated phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula . It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gemstone and ornamental stone for thousands of year ...

). From 1971 Minors were fitted with a steering-column mounted ignition key and a steering lock rather than the facia-mounted ignition switch used up to that point. ;Engines *1956–62 (Series III): 948 cc '' A-series''

inline-four A straight-four engine (also called an inline-four) is a four-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. The vast majority of automotive four-cylinder engines use a straight-four layout (with the e ...

, 37 bhp (28 kW) at 4,750 rpm and 50 lb/ft (68 N·m) at 2,500 rpm *1962–71 (Series V): 1,098 cc '' A-series'' inline-four, 48 bhp (36 kW) at 5,100 rpm and 60 lb/ft (81 N·m) at 2,500 rpm 1970 Morris Minor 1000 Saloon Almond green.jpg, 1970 Morris Minor 1000 2dr Saloon 1970 Morris Minor 1000 Saloon Almond green rear.jpg, Traveller (4196830669).jpg, 1966 Morris Minor 1000 Traveller

Decline and replacement

During the life of the Minor 1000 model, production declined – as the

and 1100/1300 had become BMC's best selling models by the mid-1960s. The last Convertible/Tourer was manufactured on 18 August 1969, and the final saloon model was built on November 12, 1970. Production of the more practical Traveller and commercial versions ceased in April 1971. According to Newell (1993), 1.6 million Minors were made in total and Wainwright (2008) even claims that 1,619,857 Minors of all variants were ultimately sold. Overseas production in the form of ckd Kit Assembly continued in New Zealand until 1974. The last new Morris minor, a 4-door blue saloon, was assembled at The Brittans group, Dublin, in 1975 - the same year British Leyland ordered the company to cease assembly of their vehicles for the Irish market. In November 2020 on the 50th anniversary of the last saloon produced, it was announced that the final Morris Minor Saloon ever made had been fully restored by the Morris Minor Owners Club in Derby.

The Minor vs Volkswagen

The decline and cancellation of Minor production was source of some consternation by industry commentators in the late 1960s,Cowin, Chris (2012), ''British Leyland: Chronicle of a Car Crash'' () p.57 who believed that further development of the car had the potential to challenge the

Volkswagen Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle—officially the Volkswagen Type 1, informally in German (meaning "beetle"), in parts of the English-speaking world the Bug, and known by many other nicknames in other languages—is a two-door, rear-engine economy car, ...

in export markets. The Volkswagen, which was developed as a small family car with a very similar brief to the Minor, had been upgraded consistently over 25 years, and retained a healthy market share in export markets (especially developing countries), where it was very often the lowest priced new car on the market. It went on to achieve over 21 million units before cancellation in 2003. Having said this, in the year of the Minor's cancellation (1971), over 1.3 million Beetles were produced (its peak year of production). This corresponded to over 80% of total Minor production in 23 years, or ten times the production volume of Minors in their peak year (1958) when 113,699 were built. This gulf of production capacity made the Minor's ability to effectively challenge the Beetle, which had a global distributor and servicing network, moot. Some historians also report that the Minor was being sold at a loss during its final years. British Leyland management were pinning hopes for greater market share and profitability on the Morris Marina, which was being specifically developed for assembly on the Minor production lines at Cowley, thereby precluding the continuance of Minor production in any event.

Successors

The Minor was officially replaced on the Cowley production lines by the

(ADO28), which was developed primarily in response to Ford's top-selling (and in many respects, conservatively engineered) Escort. Building a larger mid-sized car capable of volume sales (particularly in the lucrative fleet-buying market) was becoming increasingly key in maintaining healthy sales figures, and was an issue BMC had consistently failed to address hitherto. The Marina was developed under the watchful eye of

British Leyland British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partl ...

management, and used a modified version of the Minor chassis floorplan, extended to increase the wheelbase by 10 inches. Many other Minor components, including much of the suspension, were used in the running gear, which served to streamline production changeover and minimise the financial outlay associated with chassis development and retooling. The spiritual successor to the Morris Minor was arguably the ADO16 Austin/Morris 1100 range, which had been launched in 1962 and aimed at the same small family-car market (and actually replaced the Minor in some export markets such as Australia and New Zealand). The crisp styling, hydrolastic suspension and innovative front-wheel drive system (itself a "scaling-up" of the

principle) made ADO16 a worthy successor to the (in its day) forward-looking Minor. However, due to the British Motor Corporation's commitment to both the Morris factory at Cowley, and Austin plant at Longbridge – in addition to a healthy demand for both products – production of the two cars continued in parallel for nearly 10 years. Indeed, production of ADO16 outlasted that of the Minor by only three years or so, before being replaced by the innovative, export-oriented, yet flawed

Austin Allegro The Austin Allegro is a small family car that was manufactured by the Austin-Morris division of British Leyland from 1973 until 1982. The same vehicle was built in Italy by Innocenti between 1974 and 1975 and sold as the Innocenti Regent. The Al ...

in 1974.

Safety

Despite the four major updates of the Minor in its 23-year production run, very few actively designed "safety features" were ever engineered into the Minor's design. Provisions were made for seat belt fittings in the early '60s, but the rigid structure of the car's monocoque body made it dangerously unabsorbent to impact. For a short time in 1968, the thickness of the steel used in the bonnet and doors was decreased from 1.2 mm to 1.0 mm to act as a form of

crumple zone Crumple zones, crush zones, or crash zones are a structural safety feature used in vehicles, mainly in automobiles, to increase the time over which a change in velocity (and consequently momentum) occurs from the impact during a collision by a ...

, but as the wings continued to be made of 1.4 mm mild steel, the modification was pointless and ineffectual and was reversed in 1969 as it increased passenger compartment crush in collisions. The 1950 change from the "lowlight" model was made to comply with Canadian lighting standards, with higher and brighter headlights to increase visibility in fog and during dark Canadian winters. Australian models, and tourer models made in Britain and exported to Australia, featured safety glass windscreens and safety glass windows, to comply with local regulations. Australian models also had blinking indicator lights in addition to the standard trafficator arms on the indigenous Minor 1000.

Morris quarter ton van and pick-up

Closed van and open flat-bed ("pick-up") versions of the Minor were built from 1953 until the end of production. They were designed for commercial use with small businesses, although many were also used by larger corporations. Van versions were popular with the General Post Office, the early versions of these (to around 1956) having rubber front wings to cope with the sometimes unforgiving busy situations in which they were expected to work. Both the van and the pickup differed from the monocoque construction of the Saloon and Traveller variants by having a separate chassis. They also differed in details such as telescopic rear dampers, stiffer rear leaf springs and lower-ratio differentials to cope with heavier loads. The commercial versions were initially marketed as the Morris Quarter Ton Van and Pick-up, with a Series III designation applied from 1956. The names Morris 6cwt Van and Pickup was used following the introduction of the 1098cc engine in 1962 and 8cwt versions were added in 1968 with more substantial rear leaf springs. As BMC's policy was to provide both Austin and Morris with complete commercial vehicle ranges, Austin-badged variants of the Minor van and pick-up were sold following the end of

production in 1968. These featured Austin badging and the corporate Austin 'crinkle-cut' radiator grille but were otherwise identical to the standard Minor commercials, and were sold as the Austin 6cwt and Austin 8cwt. File:1962 Morris Minor 1000 pickup.jpg, 1962 Morris 6cwt pick up File:Austin 6cwt Van, pic1.JPG, Austin 6cwt Van 1965 Morris 6CWT Van (11815570686).jpg, Morris 6cwt van

Morris Minor today

Today the Morris Minor and 1000 are among the best-served classic family-sized cars in the old vehicle movement and continue to gain popularity. The enduring affection for the "Moggie" (also a common British nickname for an undistinguished cat, or a Morgan) or "Morrie" (as it is often known in Australia and New Zealand) is reflected in the number of restored and improved Morris Minors currently running in Britain and

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologi ...

. In addition to more powerful engines, desirable improvements necessitated by the increase in traffic density since the Minor was withdrawn from volume production include the replacement of the original equipment drum brakes with discs. Other important upgrades include the version of the A-series engine, derided by

enthusiasts as a key reason why many Marinas were scrapped, and the similarly sized

Nissan A engine The Nissan A series of internal combustion gasoline engines have been used in Datsun, Nissan and Premier brand vehicles. Displacements of this four-stroke engine family ranged from 1.0-liter to 1.5-liter and have been produced from 1967 till 20 ...

, which shares all common dimensions to the Morris Minor engine, except piston size. ''

Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the or ...

'' presenter

Jeremy Clarkson Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English broadcaster, journalist, game show host and writer who specialises in motoring. He is best known for the motoring programmes '' Top Gear'' and '' The Grand Tour'' alongside R ...

once stated that the Morris Minor is Britain's

(although this was meant in a derogatory way rather than favourably). There is still an extensive parts backup for these cars, and parts are cheap compared to modern day cars. Replacement panels for the Morris Minor were still being made in 2002 by the Durable Car Company in Sri Lanka.

References

Bibliography

*Newell, Ray (1993), ''Original Morris Minor'' (Bay View Books Ltd, Bideford, Devon, ) *Newell, Ray (2018), ''Morris Minor - 70 years on the road'' (Veloce Publishing Ltd, ) *Wainwright, Martin (2008), ''Morris Minor – The Biography'' (Aurum Press, )

External links

*https://www.mmoc.org.uk/ - Morris Minor Owners Club *http://www.morrisdownunder.com/forum/index.php – Morris Minor community forum *http://MORRISMINOR.US – Morris Minor Registry of North America * {{Use dmy dates, date=January 2019 Minor Issigonis vehicles 1940s cars Subcompact cars Sedans Station wagons Convertibles Vans Pickup trucks 1950s cars 1960s cars 1970s cars Rear-wheel-drive vehicles Cars introduced in 1948