Morris Motor Company

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Morris Motor logo, from a UK Royal Mail van. The badge shows an Ox crossing a river- a reference to the company's hometown, Oxford.

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 1984.

1 History
2 Car Models (excludes light vans)
3 See also
4 Links
5 Notes

[edit] 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, UK, 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.

The crime novelist Agatha Christie owned a Morris Cowley, and drove away from her home in it when she disappeared for 11 days in 1926.

The 1948 Morris Oxford continues to be manufactured India by Hindustan Motors as the Ambassador. It is the preferred vehicle for dipolmats, government and military officials and taxicabs.