The Morris J2 was a small, forward-control

van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. There is some variation in the scope of the word across the different English-speaking countries. The smallest vans, microvans, are used for transporting either goods or ...

(driver's cab on top of the engine) launched by

Morris Commercial Morris Commercial Cars Limited is a British manufacturer of commercial vehicles formed by William Morris, founder of Morris Motors Limited, to continue the business of E G Wrigley and Company which he purchased as of 1 January 1924. History ...

in 1956 and produced until 1967. It was offered with the familiar B-series petrol engine, initially in form, but this was subsequently enlarged to .

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

were transported in a Morris J2 owned by their then-manager

Allan Williams Allan Richard Williams (21 February 1930 – 30 December 2016) was a British businessman and promoter who was the original booking agent and first manager of the Beatles. He drove the van to take the young band to Hamburg, West Germany, in 1960 ...

when he drove them to their first residency in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, Germany, in August 1960. Until 1961, the van was sold alongside the relatively old-fashioned and slightly smaller Morris JB-type. From 1960 the company also offered the slightly smaller

Morris J4 The Morris Commercial J4 is a 10 cwt (0.5 ton) forward-control van (driver's controls in front of front wheels) launched by Morris Commercial Cars, Morris Commercial in 1960 and produced with two facelifts until 1974. The van was marketed first ...

which broadly followed the same overall architecture as the J2. The J2 van was marketed as both the ''Morris J2'' and the ''Austin J2'' or ''Austin 152''. File:Morris J2 engine as a constant companion.JPG, The engine was normally separated from the driver by a steel cover, but its presence in the cab nevertheless ensured a warm journey after a couple of miles of running File:Morris J2 based motor caravan 28 Jun 1963 1489cc.JPG, The J2 was also used as the basis for various campervans

References

J2 Vans Pickup trucks Vehicles introduced in 1956 Rear-wheel-drive vehicles {{van-stub