Morris Minor
Born: 1948
Died: 1971
There was a lilac Morris Minor parked outside my home for many years in the 1960s. It belonged to my father's bookkeeper, a longtime Minor fan, and then the proud owner of a limited edition version produced to mark the millionth copy of the car. The story really began in 1940 when the Nuffield car-making group decided that there would be a market for a small but well-appointed car at the end of the second World War. The design was entrusted to a team led by Alec Issigonis, later to become famous for his design of the Mini in the 1960s. But the Minor was the one of which he was most proud, being his "car for the people".
His design was innovative. The car was to be monocoque in construction, have an independent front suspension, and an 800cc flat-four engine mounted low down to give a low centre of gravity.
When the MM series was launched in September 1948 it was an immediate hit. Car tax regulations at the time were geared to exporting British goods to bring in foreign currencies, and it was successfully exported to the US, which in the early days was taking three out of every four Minors produced. To allow these exports, however, required a change in the front end design. The original MMs had their lights set in the front grille, making them too low for American regulations, so Issigonis had to restyle the wings to incorporate the headlights there.
The MM series had a top speed of only 64mph, but returned a popular 40mpg. It was built in 2- and 4-door saloons and a convertible. When the series ended in 1953 more than a quarter of a million had been built, almost a third convertibles.
The Series II Minor was launched in the same year as Lord Nuffield merged his organisation with the Austin Motor Company. The bodywork remained much the same, and the most significant change was a smaller but more powerful 30hp 803cc engine and a new gearbox, both of Austin origin. In 1953 the company launched what was to become its very significant "Light Commercial Vehicle", in the style of the Minor but built on a separate chassis that allowed for Van and Pickup variants. The same year came the Traveller, with a timber-and-aluminium back end on the monocoque saloon, and destined to become a most popular model in its own right.
The first significant facelift in 1954 gave the car the horizontally slatted grille which was to be the trademark for all subsequent Minors. The other trademark, the centrally-placed large speedometer, also arrived at this time. The Series II continued in production until 1956, by which time more than half a million Minors had rolled out of the factories.
The Minor 1000 of 1956 got a 948cc engine, substantially more powerful than the previous car's unit, and a smart remote-control gearshifter. This was also the car with the one-piece curved windscreen instead of the old split-screen of before. The previously rear window was also enlarged. The Minor still had the "semaphore" indicators that flipped out of the B-pillars, and these would remain until 1961.
Near the end of 1960, the Minor became the first British car to achieve one million sales, and 350 of those afore-mentioned lilac "Minor Millions" were built in celebration. My recollection is that, in Ireland anyhow, the colour was hard to sell, which is maybe why my Dad's bookkeeper got a good deal.
The next improvement came in 1962 in the form of a 1098cc engine, bigger brakes and better seats. Nothing much changed after that more than a new steering wheel and the introduction of a combined ignition/starter switch, both in 1964.
In the meantime, Issigonis had produced his Mini, and the larger Morris 1100/1300, both of which ate into the venerable Minor's market share. Some 1.6 million Minors had been rolled off the production lines over the Minor's 22-year life. The arch-typical version was the Minor 1000, of which more than 847,000 were sold between 1956 and 1971.
Today the Minor is something of a cult car among the 'modders', a number of whom in Ireland and Britain have squeezed in V8 Rover engines. These occasionally cause consternation when traffic lights turn green, with owners of more sophisticated cars turning almost that distinctive lilac colour when they find themselves left behind in a waft of burnt rubber ...
BRIAN BYRNE