Before Sir Alec Issigonis became famous for having created the Mini, he had designed the Morris Minor.
The Morris Minor was to be a good motor car with a certain amount of luxury and a price suitable even for working class people. From 1948 to 1971 over 1.6 million cars were manufactured. The rear-wheel drive cars (4-door saloon) had a kerb weight of only 1,708 lb (775 kg).
The cars were produced in Cowley, Oxfordshire and later in Birmingham. The very last Morris Minor was assembled in 1974 in New Zealand.
Morris Minor©flickr/stephenhanafin
1948-1952: The original Minor MM series included a 4-seat saloon ( 2-door and 4-door) and a convertible 4-seat Tourer. The engine was an 0.9 L (918 cc/56 in³) side valve straight-4, 27.5 hp (21 kW), top speed 64 mph (103 km/h).
1952-1956: Minor Series II. In 1952 the Traveller, an estate version was first sold. It had an external wooden (ash) frame for the rear bodywork and two side-hinged rear doors. The engine now was an 0.8 L (803 cc/49 in³) A-Series overhead valve straight-4, 30hp (22 kW), top speed 63 mph (101 km/h).
1956-1971: Minor 1000. The two-piece split windscreen was replaced with an one-piece one and the rear window was enlarged. In 1961 the Morris Minor became the first car in Britain to sell over 1 million units. For this event 350 two-door saloons were manufactured with lilac paintwork and white interior.
The engines were an 0.9 L (948 cc/57 in³) A-Series straight-4, 37 hp (28 kW) from 1956 to 1962, and an 1.1 L (1098 cc/67 in³) A-Series straight-4, 48 hp (36 kW), top speed 77 mph (124 km/h).
The van version used to be very popular with the British Post Office and even today there are a great number of restored and improved Morris Minor still running in Britain.
