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 car, compact or subcompact car, subcompact), lightweight, and inexpensive to both produce and p ...

Morris Motors Morris Motors Limited was a British privately owned motor vehicle manufacturing company formed in 1919 to take over the assets of William Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield, William Morris's WRM Motors Limited and continue production of the same ve ...

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 ...

Alec Issigonis Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis (Greek: Αλέξανδρος Άρνολντ Κωνσταντίνος Ισηγόνης) (18 November 1906 – 2 October 1988) was a British-Greek automotive designer. He designed the Mini, launched by ...

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. The ...

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

panel van A panel van, also known as a delivery van (United Kingdom), blind van, car-derived van 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 ...

pick-up truck Pickup(s), pick-up, or pick up may refer to: Film * ''Pick-Up'' (1933 film), a crime film starring Sylvia Sidney and George Raft * ''Pickup'' (1951 film), an American film noir directed by Hugo Haas * ''Pick-Up'' (1975 film), an exploitation f ...

Morris Mini The Mini is a very small two-door, four-seat car, produced for four decades over a single generation, with many names and variants, by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors British Leyland and the Rover Group, and finally ...

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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 ...

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,

Alec Issigonis Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis (Greek: Αλέξανδρος Άρνολντ Κωνσταντίνος Ισηγόνης) (18 November 1906 – 2 October 1988) was a British-Greek automotive designer. He designed the Mini, launched by ...

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

suspension Suspension or suspended may refer to: Science and engineering * Car suspension * Cell suspension or suspension culture, in biology * Guarded suspension, a software design pattern in concurrent programming suspending a method call and the calling ...

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 is a medium-sized car introduced for 1933 as the company's offering in the important 10 hp sector of the British market. It continued through a series of variants until October 1948 when along with Morris's Twelve and Fourt ...

, which was in development during 1936/7. This was the first Morris to use

unitary construction 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 had ...

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 (car), MG in England from 1947 to 1953. It was offered in four-door Saloon (automobile), saloon and limited production open four-seat tourer versions. When production ceased, 8,336 "Y" Types had bee ...

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 suspension (vehicle), 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 hist ...

. Despite his brief being to focus on the Ten's suspension, Issigonis had also drawn up a

rack and pinion steering A rack and pinion is a type of linear actuator that comprises a circular gear (the ''pinion'') engaging a linear gear (the ''rack''). Together, they convert between rotational motion and linear motion: rotating the pinion causes the rack to be d ...

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 draughtsman (British spelling) or draftsman (American spelling) may refer to: * An architectural drafter, who produced architectural drawings until the late 20th century * An artist who produces drawings that rival or surpass their other types o ...

: (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 The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK government formed on 1 August 1939 by the Ministry of Supply Act 1939 ( 2 & 3 Geo. 6. c. 38) to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Ministe ...

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 for establishing the Nuffield Foundation, th ...

), 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 car, compact or subcompact car, subcompact), lightweight, and inexpensive to both produce and p ...

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 very small two-door, four-seat car, produced for four decades over a single generation, with many names and variants, by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors British Leyland and the Rover Group, and finally ...

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 type of automobile that is designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as Automobile handling, handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving, and Auto racing, racing capability. Sports cars originated in ...

, 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 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 ...

,

rack and pinion steering A rack and pinion is a type of linear actuator that comprises a circular gear (the ''pinion'') engaging a linear gear (the ''rack''). Together, they convert between rotational motion and linear motion: rotating the pinion causes the rack to be d ...

, and

unitary construction 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 had ...

. In the case of the Mosquito, Issigonis was inspired by the

Citroën Traction Avant The Citroën Traction Avant () is the world's first mass-produced, semi-monocoque bodied, front-wheel drive car. A range of mostly four-door saloon (automobile), saloons and executive cars, as well as longer wheelbased ''"Commerciale"'', and thre ...

, 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 tension coil spring A coil spring is a mechanical device that typically is used to store energy and subsequently release it, to absorb shock, or to maintain a force between contacting surfaces. It is made of an elastic material formed into the ...

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 the ...

, 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 the vehicle to changes in steering angle associated with changes in lateral acceleration. This sensitivity is defined for a level road for a given steady state ...

. 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 or boxer 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 box ...

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 automobile, motor car models produced by Morris Motors, 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 un ...

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

platform Platform may refer to: Arts * Platform, an arts centre at The Bridge, Easterhouse, Glasgow * ''Platform'' (1993 film), a 1993 Bollywood action film * ''Platform'' (2000 film), a 2000 film by Jia Zhangke * '' The Platform'' (2019 film) * Pla ...

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 Productivity, output produced per unit of cost (production cost). A decrease in ...

. 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 Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

was known to be working on an all-new but conventional car, the

Austin A40 Devon :''See Austin A40 for other A40 models and Austin A40 Sports for the sports car version of the Devon.'' The A40 Devon (and similar 2-door A40 Dorset) are automobiles that were marketed by Austin from 1947 to 1952 – the first post-war ...

, 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 Motor Show is an annual car show that was initially launched in 2020 as a new format for a national motor show and the first show took place in 2021 with the first show delayed due to the pandemic. It effectively took over from the ...

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 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, it ...

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 Cam-in-block, engine block, instead of in the cyl ...

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 Car, automobile series built by the Packard Motor Car Company (and by the later Studebaker-Packard Corporation) for model years 1941–1942, 1946–1947, and 1953–1957. It was named for a type of sailing ship, called 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 smal ...

. 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 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 Motor Company, Austin from May 1952 to September 1956. It was launched at the 1951 Earls Court Exhibition Centre, Earls Court Motor Show as the "''New'' Austin 7, Austin Seven" and was Aust ...

, 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

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 car, compact or subcompact car, subcompact), lightweight, and inexpensive to both produce and p ...

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

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 ...

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

Morris Oxford Morris Oxford is a series of automobile, motor car models produced by Morris Motors, 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 un ...

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 Francis ...

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

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

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 ...

suspension shared its design with the larger

Morris Oxford MO Morris Oxford Series MO is a car 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 fiscal ...

, 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 had ...

construction. Although the Minor was originally designed to accept a

flat-4 A flat-four engine, also known as a horizontally opposed-four engine or boxer 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 box ...

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

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 Cam-in-block, engine block, instead of in the cyl ...

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

, 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 and of

torque In physics and mechanics, torque is the rotational analogue of linear force. It is also referred to as the moment of force (also abbreviated to moment). The symbol for torque is typically \boldsymbol\tau, the lowercase Greek letter ''tau''. Wh ...

. The engine pushed the Minor to just 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 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 Native American *War bonnet, feathered headgear worn as an earned military decoration by high-ranking Plains Indians United King ...

. 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 both lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-drag ratio, which compares the bene ...

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 founded on 28 January 1903 and published by Temple Press. It was initially launched as ''Motorcycling and Motoring'' in 1902 before the title was shortened. From the 14 ...

'' 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

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 ...

(Morris's parent company) with the Austin Motor Company to form the

British Motor Corporation The British Motor Corporation Limited (BMC) was a United Kingdom, UK-based vehicle manufacturer formed in early 1952 to give effect to an agreed merger of the Morris Motors, Morris and Austin Motor Company, Austin businesses.Morris-Austin Merge ...

. 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 Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

-designed overhead valve A-series engine, which had been designed for the Minor's main rival, the

Austin A30 The Austin A30 is a small family car produced by Austin Motor Company, Austin from May 1952 to September 1956. It was launched at the 1951 Earls Court Exhibition Centre, Earls Court Motor Show as the "''New'' Austin 7, Austin Seven" and was Aust ...

, 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 was still calm, but top speed increased to . 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

Mini The Mini is a very small two-door, four-seat car, produced for four decades over a single generation, with many names and variants, by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors British Leyland and the Rover Group, and finally ...

). The Traveller featured an external structural

ash Ash is 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 is the ...

(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 rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

) 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. ''

The Motor ''The Motor'' (later, just ''Motor'') was a British weekly car magazine founded on 28 January 1903 and published by Temple Press. It was initially launched as ''Motorcycling and Motoring'' in 1902 before the title was shortened. From the 14 ...

'' 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''

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

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, Morris Minor Series II four-door saloon
registered October 1953 Morris Minor Traveller - Flickr - exfordy (1).jpg, Morris Minor Series II 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

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 Productivity, output produced per unit of cost (production cost). A decrease in ...

, 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 The Austin Motor Company A-series is a British small straight-4 car, automobile engine. Launched in 1951 with the Austin A30, production lasted until 2000 in the Mini. It used a cast-iron block and cylinder head, and a steel crankshaft with thre ...

, 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 Motor Company, 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 reflecte ...

, 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 Gra ...

/

MG Midget The MG Midget is a small two-seater lightweight sports car produced by MG Cars, 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. __TOC__ MG Midget MkI (19 ...

, 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

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 Productivity, output produced per unit of cost (production cost). A decrease in ...

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 Semaphore (; ) is the use of an apparatus to create a visual signal transmitted over distance. A semaphore can be performed with devices including: fire, lights, flags, sunlight, and moving arms. Semaphores can be used for telegraphy when arra ...

-style

trafficators Trafficators are Semaphore (disambiguation), 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 locate ...

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 cars produced by Riley and Wolseley respectively from 1957 until 1965. They utilised the Morris Minor floorpan, suspension and steering but were fitted with the larger B-Series engine and ...

/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 The Morris Major and Austin Motor Company, Austin Lancer are passenger car models that were produced by British Motor Corporation (Australia), BMC Australia between 1958 and 1964. Series I (1958–1959) The Morris Major and Austin Lancer were ...

and the

Austin Lancer Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufactu ...

. 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 supporting journalists in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The NUJ was founded in 1907 and has 20,693 members. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Trades ...

, 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 Great Ormond Street Hospital (informally GOSH, formerly the Hospital for Sick Children) is a children's hospital located in the Bloomsbury area of the London Borough of Camden, and a part of Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Found ...

, 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 , 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 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 in the Julian calendar. It last year of the 11th century and the first year of the 12th century. In the proleptic Gregorian calendar, it was a non-leap century year starting on Monday (like ...

) 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 C-segment, small family car that was manufactured by the Morris Motors, Austin-Morris division of British Leyland from 1971 until 1980. It served to replace the Morris Minor in the Mo ...

, 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 Adderley Park is an area in the east of Birmingham, England. Charles Adderley MP donated of land to create the park, which he managed privately from 1855 to 1864. The park was opened to the public on 30 August 1856. At the park's entrance were ...

, 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

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

. 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 is a color that is a shade of yellow-green, so named because it is a representation of the color of the citrus fruit called lime (fruit), limes. It is the color that is in between the web color chartreuse (color), chartreuse and yellow on ...

) and Aqua (

turquoise Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrous phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula . It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gemstone for millennia due to its hue. The robi ...

). 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 referred to as an inline-four engine) is a four-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. The majority of automotive four-cylinder engines use a straight-four layout ( ...

, 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, 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 2-door 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

Mini The Mini is a very small two-door, four-seat car, produced for four decades over a single generation, with many names and variants, by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors British Leyland and the Rover Group, and finally ...

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 ('completely knocked down') Kit Assembly cars continued in New Zealand until 1974. The last new Morris Minor, a blue 4-door 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, is a small family car produced by the German company Volkswagen from 1938 to 2003. One of the most iconic cars in automotive history, the Beetle is noted for its distinctive shape. Its pr ...

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. In the year of the Minor's cancellation, 1971, over 1.3 million Beetles were produced, which was its maximum annual 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 of 1958 when 113,699 were built. Some historians also report that the Minor was being sold at a loss during its final years.

Successors

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

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

(ADO28), which was developed primarily in response to Ford's top-selling 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 a British automotive engineering and manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate formed in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It wa ...

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

Mini The Mini is a very small two-door, four-seat car, produced for four decades over a single generation, with many names and variants, by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors British Leyland and the Rover Group, and finally ...

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 Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

plant at

Longbridge Longbridge is an area in the south-west of Birmingham, England, located near the border with Worcestershire, historically being within this place. Public transport Longbridge is described as a hub for public transport with a number of bus ...

– 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 (BL) from 1973 until 1982. The same vehicle was built in Italy by Innocenti between 1974 and 1975 and sold as the Innocenti Regent ...

in 1973.

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. 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 General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Established in England in the 17th century, the GPO was a state monopoly covering the dispatch of items from a specific ...

, 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 Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...

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

Austin A35 The Austin A35 is a small family car that was sold by Austin Motor Company, 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 reflecte ...

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 File:2022 Downtown West Allis Classic Car Show 066 (1959 Morris Minor 1000 Panel Truck).jpg, 1959 Morris Minor 1000 Panel Truck

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 Morgan may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Morgan – A Suitable Case for Treatment'', also called ''Morgan!'', a 1966 comedy film * ''Morgan'' (2012 film), an American drama * ''Morgan'' (2016 film), an American science fiction thriller * ...

) 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 subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

. 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

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

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 and Nissan 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 2009. It is a ...

, 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 ori ...

'' presenter

Jeremy Clarkson Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English television presenter, journalist, farmer, and author who specialises in Driving, motoring. He is best known for hosting the television programmes ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), T ...

once stated that the Morris Minor is Britain's

Volkswagen Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle, officially the Volkswagen Type 1, is a small family car produced by the German company Volkswagen from 1938 to 2003. One of the most iconic cars in automotive history, the Beetle is noted for its distinctive shape. Its pr ...

(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 Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

.

Cancelled Revival

Following the bankruptcy of the

MG Rover Group MG Rover Group was a British carmaker that existed between 2000 and 2005. It was the last domestically owned mass-production car manufacturer in the British motor industry. The company was formed when BMW sold the car-making and engine manufac ...

in 2005, three competing bids were launched aiming to acquire the company's assets, including the hardware to manufacture the

Rover 25 The Rover 200 Series, and later the Rover 25, are a series of small family cars that were produced by former British manufacturer Rover (marque), Rover from 1984 until 2005. There have been three distinct generations of the Rover 200. The firs ...

, 45 and 75 models, as well as the K-Series engine. One of the bids, led by

Maserati Maserati S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914 in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. Ma ...

CEO Martin Leach alongside

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

state-owned Shanghai Automotive Industries Corporation (SAIC), included plans for a Morris Minor revival. According to reports, the proposal was entirely Leach's idea and was seen as essential to his vision for the revival of MG Rover. The car would likely have been built on a planned 'monospace mini' platform, and used the Rover K-Series engine. The idea was not revealed to the public, presumably to prevent competitors from discovering the proposal, and information regarding the project was only released in 2024. Despite initially being met with optimism, the bid was lost to the

Nanjing Automobile Corporation Nanjing Automobile is a state-owned enterprise with a history that dates from 1947,

and the new Minor was not produced, although Nanjing Automobile Corporation later merged with SAIC, with all assets, including the Morris marque, being transferred to SAIC.

References

External links

Morris Minor Owners Club

Morris Minor community forum

Morris Minor Registry of North America
{{British Motor Holdings and British Leyland cars, 1966-1986 1940s cars 1950s cars 1960s cars 1970s cars Cars discontinued in 1971 Cars introduced in 1948 Convertibles Issigonis vehicles

Minor Minor may refer to: Common meanings * Minor (law), a person not under the age of certain legal activities. * Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education Mathematics * Minor (graph theory), a relation of one graph to an ...

Pickup trucks Rear-wheel-drive vehicles Sedans Station wagons Subcompact cars Vans

Development

Origins

Original design features

Pre-production changes

From Mosquito to Minor

Minor "Series MM"

Minor Series II

Minor 1000

Series III

Minor Million

Series V (ADO59)

Decline and replacement

The Minor vs Volkswagen

Successors

Safety

Morris quarter ton van and pick-up

Morris Minor today

Cancelled Revival

References

Further reading

External links