Morris Minor Four- Door Saloon 1953 - World Of Classic Cars -

Morris Minor Four- Door Saloon 1953

Sir Alec Issigonis' concept was to combine the luxury and convenience of a good motor car at a price affordable by the working classes. The Minor was a roomy vehicle with superior cornering and handling characteristics. The Minor prototype had been known as the Morris Mosquito. More than 1.3 million of the lightweight, rear-wheel drive cars were eventually produced, mainly in Cowley, Oxfordshire, becoming Britain's first car to sell a million units with export around the world. Production continued in Birmingham until 1972 with the last Morris Minor (commercial) being assembled at Stoke, Nelson, New Zealand in 1974. Although the Minor was originally designed to accept a flat-four engine with four distinctive gaps in the engine bay to accommodate it, late in the development stage it was replaced by a 918cc side-valve inline-four engine, pretty much unchanged from the outgoing Morris 8 and producing 27.5hp and 39lbf ft of torque. This little engine pushed the Minor to just 64mph but delivered 40 miles per imperial gallon.