Morris Motor Company

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Morris Motor logo, from a UK Royal Mail van

1927 Morris Cowley

1928 Morris Minor Saloon

1933 Morris 10/4

1946 Morris Ten Series M

1953 Morris Minor Series 2

1971 Morris 1000 Traveller

The Morris Motor Company was a British car manufacturing company. After the incorporation of the company into larger corporations, the Morris name remained in use as a marque until 1983.

Contents

1 History
2 Models
3 See also
4 Notes

History

The Morris Motor Company (MMC) was started in 1910 when bicycle manufacturer William Morris turned his attention to car manufacturing. A factory was opened in 1913 in Cowley, Oxford, England, and the company's first car, a 2-seat version of the "Bullnose" Oxford was introduced. Nearly all the major components were bought-in, with only final assembly being undertaken in the MMC works. In 1914 a coupé and van were added to the line-up but the chassis was too short and the 1018 cc engine too small to make a much-needed 4-seat version of the car. White and Poppe, who made the engine, wanted more money for a larger version than Morris was prepared to pay so Morris turned to Continental of Detroit, Michigan, USA for supplies of a 1548 cc unit. Gearboxes and axles were also sourced in the United States. In spite of the outbreak of the First World War the orders were maintained and, from mid-1915 a new larger car, the 2-seat and 4-seat Cowley was introduced.

After the war the Continental engine was no longer available, so Morris arranged for the French company Hotchkiss to make a near-copy in their Coventry factory. This was used to power new versions of the basic Cowley and more up-market Morris Oxford cars. With a reputation for producing high-quality cars and a policy of cutting prices, MMC continued to grow and increase its share of the British market and, in 1924, MMC overtook Ford to become the UK's biggest car manufacturer, holding a 51% share of the home market. There was also a policy of buying up suppliers with, for example in 1923, Hotchkiss in Coventry becoming the Morris Engines branch. In 1924 the head of the Morris sales agency in Oxford, Cecil Kimber, started building sporting versions of Morris cars, called 'MG' after the agency Morris Garages. The later-to-be-famous MG factory was in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England.

The small car market was entered in 1928, with the Morris Minor, using an 847 cc engine from the Wolseley Motor Company, a company which became part of MMC in 1927 when William Morris bought it, and this helped get them through the depression years. The Minor was replaced at the 1934 London Motor Show by the Morris Eight, a direct response to the Ford Model Y and heavily based on it. In 1932 Morris appointed Leonard Lord as Managing Director and he swept through the works, updating the production methods including a proper moving assembly line, but they fell out and Lord left in 1936, threatening to "take Cowley apart brick by brick". Also in 1936 Morris sold Morris Commercial Cars Limited, his commercial vehicle enterprise, to Morris Motors. In 1938 William Morris became Viscount Nuffield, and the same year he merged MCC (already incorporating Wolseley) and MG with newly acquired Riley to form a new company the Nuffield Organisation.

Production restarted after the Second World War, with the pre-war Eight and Ten but, in 1948 they were replaced by what is probably the most famous Morris car, the Morris Minor designed by Alec Issigonis (who later went on to be famous for the design of the Mini) and reusing the small car name from 1928. Alongside it was the Morris Oxford of 1948, styled like a larger version of the Minor. This was the basis for the design of India's famous Ambassador automobile.

In 1952, the Nuffield Organisation (incorporating Morris, MG, Riley and Wolseley) merged with its old rival the Austin Motor Company to form the British Motor Corporation (BMC) with Leonard Lord back in charge, accounting for Austin's domination of the organisation. Badge engineering came with the new company and, for several years, Austin, Morris and the other BMC names would be seen on similar vehicles. In 1968, the Morris marque transferred to the British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC), and subsequently, in 1975, to the nationalised British Leyland Limited (BL).

The Morris marque was used until the early 1980s on cars such as the Morris Marina. The facelifted Marina, the Morris Ital, was the last Morris-badged passenger car until its demise in 1984. The last Morris was a van, based on the Austin Metro. The former MMC assembly plant in Cowley was turned over in the early 1980s for the production of Austin and Rover badged vehicles.

The rights to the Morris marque is currently owned by MG Rover, who have inherited the remains of BMC and BL. The Cowley assembly plant is now owned by BMW, who use it to assemble the new MINI. With MG Rover currently in receivership, it is not clear who will buy the Morris marque.

Models

Morris Oxford (Bullnose) 1913-1926
Morris Cowley 1915-1935
Morris Oxford 1926-1935
Morris Minor 1928-1932
Morris Major 1931-1933
Morris Isis 1930-1935
Morris Twenty-One/Twenty-Five 1933-1939
Morris Twelve 1935-1939
Morris Fourteen 1935-1939
Morris Eight 1935-1948
Morris Ten 1933-1948
Morris Minor MM 1948-1952
Morris Minor 1952-1956
Morris Minor 1000 1955-1971
Morris Oxford MO 1948-1954
Morris Six MS 1948-1953
Morris Oxford1954-1969
Morris Isis 1955-1958
Morris Cowley 1954-1959
Morris Mini Minor 1959-1969
Morris 1100 1962-1971
Morris 1300 1967-1971
Morris 1800 1966-1975
Morris Marina 1971-1984
Morris Ital 1980-1984

^[1] The BMC trademark is registered (1564704, E1118348) to MG Rover Group Ltd in the UK. BMC is also the name of a commercial vehicle manufacturer in Turkey, formerly the Turkish subsidiary of the British Motor Corporation. It is belived that Nanjing Automotive may have purchased this from MG Rover, however the brand has not been re-assigned as of 17 July 2006.

^[2] The Wolseley trademark is registered (UK 1490228) to MG Rover Group Ltd for automobiles only. It is believed that Nanjing Automotive may have purchased this from MG Rover, however the brand has not been -reassigned as of July 2006 to a different company. The UK building materials supplier Wolseley plc owns the rights to the Wolseley name for all other purposes. Wolseley plc is a descendant of the original Wolseley company.

^[3] The Vanden Plas trademark is owned by Ford (through Jaguar) for use within the USA and Canada, and as (UK 1133528, E2654481) to MG Rover Group Ltd for use in the rest of the world. It is belived that Nanjing Automotive may have purchased this from MG Rover, however the trademark has not been recorded as reassigned as of 17 July 2006. This is why Jaguar XJ Vanden Plas models are branded as Daimlers in Britain. The last Rover to use the Vanden Plas name was the Rover 75 Vanden Plas, a long wheelbase limousine model.

^[4] The Rover trademark is owned by BMW and was only licenced to MG Rover Group Ltd. BMW has indicated the Rover brand name is for sale and there is speculation that Nanjing or Chinese rivals SAIC wish to purchase the brand outright.

^[5] Alvis was purchased from British Leyland by United Scientific Holdings plc in 1981, in 2002 Alvis merged with part of Vickers Defence Systems to form Alvis Vickers which was purchased by BAE Systems in 2004. BAE Systems did not acquire Alvis through their ownership of Austin Rover Group / Rover Group in the early 1990s. Production of Alvis branded cars ceased in 1967. The trademark is owned by Alvis Vehicles Ltd

^[6] The use of the Triumph name as a trademark for vehicles is shared between BMW and Triumph Motorcycles Ltd. The former for automobiles and the latter for motorcycles. The motorcycle and car business separated in the 1930s.

Notes

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Morris Motor Company

History

Models

See also

Notes