Morris' 1948 Postwar Line - Updated with Side-Views

In 2019 I posted "Morris 1948 Badge Engineering -- And More!" but did not include my preferred use of profile views to illustrate my points.  Today's post attempts to correct that deficiency.

The October 1948 Earl's Court automobile show's exhibits included a new set of cars from Morris Motors.  These were the entry-level Morris Minor, the larger Morris Oxford, the six-cylinder Morris Six, along with two cars from Morris' Wolseley brand, the Four-Fifty (4/50) and Six-Eighty (6/80).

Although these models differed in size and engineering details, the latter four just mentioned shared much bodywork, and even the Morris Minor shared some of it.  More on this in the captions below.

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1949c. Morris Minor 2-door saloon - photo via Classic and Sports Car
The Morris Minor was a two-door model until 1950, when a four-door version (shown next) was offered.  Its wheelbase was 86 inches (2184 mm).

1952 Morris Minor Series II 4-door saloon - car-for sale photo
The front fender design seen here was also on Morris Minors starting during 1950 due to American regulations regarding headlight height.  The body profile is the same as the 2-door's, as is the window profile.  The main structural difference besides the additional door is that the front door is narrower here.

1953 Morris Oxford - photo via Simon cars
Wheelbase was 97 inches (2464 mm).  Longer wheelbase, longer car, but the body and window profiles are quite similar to that of the Oxford.  So are the rear fenders and trunk (boot) lid shapes, though these too are not exactly the same.  The front fender is different.  The body structures in the area of the cowling seems the same.  The similarities mentioned here make me wonder if some sheet metal and other structural stampings were either used outright or were adjusted.  Otherwise, what was the point of having such similarity in the designs other than the important consideration of manufacturing economy?

1951 Wolseley 4/50 - car-for sale photo
The wheelbase here was 102 inches (2591 mm).  Added length seems to be forward of the A-pillar and for wider doors.  The front fender design differs from the Oxford.  So does the hood (bonnet).  Otherwise, the cars are similar.

1950 Morris Six - Anglia Car Auctions photo
Wheelbase is 110 inches (2591 mm).  Added length is forwards of the cowling.  The rear window detailing on the car pictured here is not standard -- the vent window should be the same as that shown in the previous image.

1948 Wolseley 6/80 - unknown photo source
Wheelbase and basic body are the same as for the Morris Six.  The main difference is the grille.

Morris 1948 Badge Engineering -- And More!

What follows is not "badge engineering" (different brands of cars with minor appearance differences) in the narrow sense.  It is definitely the use of major body components by two brands and various models.  And in one instance regarding appearance, there is true badge engineering.

The subject matter is variations on Morris Motors' first postwar design.  The primary model was the best-selling Morris Minor that I wrote about here.

The postwar Minor began as a two-door saloon (sedan), and it wasn't until around the end of 1950s that a four-door version appeared.  That version used the body shown below.  However, abaft of the forward edge of the C-pillar, two-door and four-door Minors used the same 1948-vintage stamping.

Using the body discussed above, from the cowling aft, front ends and wheelbases varied depending upon the motors used.  Those cars were the Morris Oxford MO (97 inch, 2646 mm wheelbase), the Morris Six MS (110 inch, 2794 mm wheelbase), and two Wolseley models, the 4 cylinder 4/50 and six cylinder 6/80 (respective wheelbases 102 inches, 2591 mm, and 110 inches, 2794 mm).  Note that the Morris MS and Wolseley 6/90 have the same wheelbase: these are the badge-engineered models.

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1948c. Morris Oxford MO
The smallest of this set.  Note the stubby front end and the shaping of the fender extension over the front door.  This fender design is that of the Morris Minor.

1948c. Wolseley 4/50
The 4-cylinder Wolseley carries a high hood and grille that visually define the brand.  The section of the fender overlapping the front door is shaped differently from the Oxford's.

1948c. Morris Six MS
Two views of the Morris Six.  It's hard to see here, but the grille's design differs from the Wolseley's, being more curved, less severe. The fender line here is the same as the Wolseley's, not the Oxford's.

1948c. Morris Six MS
Aft ends of all these cars were essentially the same.

1948c. Wolseley 6/80
The top of the line shown here is this six-cylinder Wolseley.  These were popular police cars in England.

1954 Wolseley 6/80 for sale photo

Badge Engineering the BMC 1100 (ADO16)

I wrote about some badge engineering of the original ADO15 Mini here and about the larger, later ADO16 Morris 1100 here.

Like the ADO15 Minis, the later (starting 1962) ADO16s appeared with several brand nameplates.  Mechanical differences aside, from a design perspective we find a case of "badge engineering" -- largely superficial detailing differences intended to denote brand identity as cheaply (in tooling costs) as practical. The Wikipedia entry dealing with the ADO16 lines is here.

Besides the higher-volume production Austin and Morris ADO (British Motor Corporation's Amalgamated Design Office) 16s, that platform was used for the lesser BMC brands MG, Riley, Vanden Plas and Wolseley.

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1963 Austin 1100

1962 Morris 1100
Morris and Austin 1100s featured different badges and grille bars, but otherwise looked the same.

MG 1100
Use of a version of MG's traditional grille required some slight changes to the hood and front sheet metal.  The car shown in the press release photo also sports a two-tome paint job.

1965 Riley Kestrel
The Kestrel's side chrome strip is the same as the MGs.  Front end changes accommodate a slightly stylized traditional Riley grille plus the side "whisker" treatment carried over from the earlier Mini-based Riley Elf.

1967 Vanden Plas Princess
This more sombre appearance was intended to denote a top-of-the-line, dignified 1100.  Aside from the side strip being painted, the Princess got a slightly different hood, grille and lighting treatment.

1967 Wolseley 1100
Wolseley's changes are more in line with the Riley's.  Yet again, BMC stylists were allowed hood stamping adjustments.  The grille openings and light placements are nearly the same as the Kestrel's, again minimizing tooling expenditures.

Some Badged First-Generation British Minis

Today's Mini brand is from BMW.  But the 1959 original Minis were products of BMC, the British Motor Corporation, that was the result of a merger of Austin and Morris. Some background is here and here.

The first Minis, produced 1959-1967, were the Morris Mini-Minor and the Austin Seven, the latter a long-time Austin model name.  Two years later, BMC launched Mini-based cars for two of its lesser brands.  These were the Riley Elf and Wolseley Hornet.

Although there may have been some mechanical differences between these various Mini-based brands, from a styling perspective it seems to have been a matter of what is called "badge engineering" -- cheaply implemented superficial differences intended to preserve brand identities.

The original Mini concept was successful in its day, but in the long run BMC, Austin, Morris, Riley and Wolseley all disappeared from the automotive scene.

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1962 Austin Mini-Cooper

1964 Morris Mini-Cooper
By far the most popular versions of British Minis were from Morris and Austin.

1961 Riley Elf
The Elf received a small bustle back and extended fenders.  The hood and lower front fender cuts lines are carried over from Morris and Austin.  A small version of a traditional Riley grille was added, along with "whisker" openings as part of the lower light ensemble.

Wolseley Hornet
Wolseley Hornets received treatments similar to the Elfs, the grille being characteristic of Wolseley.  One difference seen on the car illustrated here is the smoothed front fender -- the angled sheet metal join is missing.

BMC 1100s: Bigger, Cleaner Minis

I suspect that even semi-casual observers of the automotive scene are aware that BMW's Mini line has been getting a bit less mini as the years pass.  This sort of thing is fairly common, as I noted here with regard to Honda's Civic.

This also happened to the original Minis in the form of a new, larger car based on the Mini's platform concept.  That concept was the work of Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis, CBE (1906-1988), biographical information here.

The original Mini (produced 1959-1967), was known internally at British Motor Corporation as ADO15 -- Amalgamated Drawing Office project number 15. The Wikipedia entry is here.  It was followed by ADO16, produced 1962-1974, and like the Mini was badge-engineered and sold by several BMC brands.  More information can be found here.

An early ADO16 was the Morris 1100, subject of this post.  These cars were larger, higher priced, and more "styled" than Minis.  The Mini design gives the appearance of being more an engineering exercise than a styling one: only the grille looks like it passed under a stylist's pencil.  The Wikipedia entry on the ADO16 mentions that the Pininfarina firm was involved in its styling.

Gallery

The web site I grabbed this image from states that this is a 1962 Morris Mini Super.  Regardless, its appearance is typical Mini -- mostly a passenger compartment atop tiny wheels.

This seems to be a publicity photo of a Morris 1100 from 1962 or shortly later.  The 1100 is large enough to have four doors, though the hood and wheels remain proportionally small.

Side view.  The body panels are not as crude or basic as those on the Mini.  There's even a subtle character line crease along the side and stamped, raised wheelhouse surrounds, unlike the tacked-on chrome surrounds on the Mini.

Publicity photo of an Australian 1100 showing the more refined body shaping as viewed from the front.

A for sale photo of a 1966 1100 showing the rear.  Again, cleaner and more refined than the original Mini.  Reminds me of the MGB.

Due to its small size and proportions, the Morris 1100 is not a beautiful car, and most likely never could be.  What we see here are really two designs spliced together.  One is the above-the-beltline greenhouse that seems more appropriate for a large, more standard size vehicle.  The other is the lower body that is in synch with the size of the wheels, thereby creating a sensible composition for that half of the car.

The Long-Lived Morris Minor

Morris Minor automobiles were produced for more than 20 years (1948-1971) without a major styling change and sold well.  From what I read, my impression is that the Minor remains the most highly-regarded low-priced British car launched the first few years after World War 2 ended.  Background information can be found here.

As for its styling, the Minor falls into the evolutionary zone American designs reached in 1942.  Given that its body design was 1942-43 vintage (see here), the Morris Minor had up-to-date styling that was on the verge of being out-of-date by the time it was announced to the public in the fall of 1948.  But its warm marketplace acceptance eliminated the need for other than a few modifications over the years..

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Morris "Mosquito" prototype
The "Mosquito" name was discarded before production.  The styling theme seen here was carried over to production models that had slightly larger proportions.

1950 Morris Minor MM
The wheels seem too small for my taste, but the large windows give the car a light, airy look.

1950 Morris Minor - sales photo
The front fenders extending over the doors give the Minor a solid appearance without the potential bloat that flow-through or pontoon fenders might have yielded.  The doors are hinged at the front, unlike some cars with similar fenders that had to have "suicide" aft-hinged doors for engineering reasons.

1950 Morris Minor - sales photo
From the door aft, aside from the large side windows, the Minor reminds me of 1940-vintage American car styling.

1953 Morris Minor Series II
Minors were facelifted for a second series built 1952-56.  The main change was repositioning the headlights from the grille area to the fenders.  This might have been done to satisfy regulations in export-target countries.  Note that the car in the photo is a four-door model.

1957 Morris Minor 1000 - Classic Auctions photo
An example of the final revision with its new one-piece windshield.  The grille ensemble, including the sheet metal surround, is very close in extent to the ensemble seen on the earliest Minors.

1968 Morris Minor 1000 (never driven!) - via London Telegraph
Side view of a four-door Minor auctioned not long ago and noteworthy for its extremely low mileage.  Two-door Minors look better because they didn't have the cramped appearance of four-door models such as this one.