Morris Minor (1928)

The Morris Minor of 1928 was a small four seat car with an 850 cc class engine, built by Morris Motors Limited from 1928 until 1934. It should not be confused with the better known Morris Minor that carried the same name from 1948. William Morris developed it to compete with the Austin Seven, taking engine design from Wolseley, which he had bought privately, and a chassis designed at Morris Commercial Cars in Birmingham. It was shown at the London Olympia Motor Show in October 1928 as a two door fabric saloon and a four seat tourer, and up to a dozen body styles were used during production. The first engine was an 847 cc overhead camshaft unit made by Wolseley. A side valve version designed by Morris Engines followed in late 1930 and let a stripped down two seater be sold for 100 pounds. In all 39,087 overhead camshaft and 47,231 side valve cars were made before the Morris Eight replaced the model in 1934.