Morris

The Morris Motor Company was British manufacturer of automobiles that evolved into a marque following the company’s merger into the Nuffield Organisation.  Morris manufactured a wide variety of motor vehicles, ranging from vans to 2-seaters.  The most famous Morris automobile was the 1948 Morris Minor, which was designed by Alec Issigonis (famous for his design of the original Mini).

The first Morris automobile was the 2-seat Morris Oxford “Bullnose”, which was composed almost entirely of third-party components, which were then assembled by Morris.  Morris produced its first van and coupe in 1914, both of which used Continental engines in place of the smaller 1018 cc engine used on the Oxford.  Morris produced the first version of the Minor in 1928, marking the company’s shift into the small car market.  In 1934, the Minor was replaced by the Morris Eight in response to the Ford Model Y.  In 1938, Morris became an automobile marque under the Nuffield Organisation, which was the product of a merger between Viscount Nuffield, Morris, MG and Riley.  In 1948, the Morris Eight was replaced by a revamped version of its predecessor, the Minor.

In 1952, the Nuffield Organisation merged with the Austin Motor Company to form the British Motor Corporation, who would continue to manufacture Morris automobiles as badge-engineered versions of other marques.  Austin became the dominant marque owned by BMC however, and the Morris name was ultimately dropped in 1948.