About your Morris car
Morris Motors produced a wide range of cars and vans, and this can sometimes be confusing at first. Up until the late 1920s a simple 2-model range was on offer, the Morris Oxford and the Morris Cowley, with 11.9 and 13.9 horsepower options. The company expanded into the six-cylinder market with the 17.7 HP Morris Six for 1928, and into the small car market in 1929 with the 8 HP Morris Minor.
The early 1930s saw the Morris range expand rapidly to offer a full range of horsepower and body style options from 8 to 25 HP, with substantial changes in detail almost every year. These changes would normally be introduced at the London Motor Show in early October of every year, and it is important that present-day owners are clear about the model-year, or season, of your car, particularly when ordering spare parts. For example a Morris Ten-Four bought between October 1933 and September 1934 would be a 1934 model, even though it might have been registered in late 1933, and there are many differences between the 1933 and the 1933 models.
In 1935 the company announced that it was moving away from this practice of changes every year to a more flexible method of only announcing a new model when there were significant changes made. This also marked the introduction of a totally new range, with the Series 1 Morris 8 leading the way and the Series 2 Morris 10 to 25 HP cars following closely behind.
There was though a move back to making new model announcements at the Motor Show, and at the 1938 show the series E Morris 8 and the Series M Morris 10 were announced. These two models were brought back into production when peace broke out in 1945, but the series 3 Morris 12 to 25 were not to be seen again.
Morris Motors Ltd also produced light vans at the Cowley factory, either 5 cwt vans based on the Morris Minor and the Morris 8 from 1929 to 1953, or 8 to 10 cwt vans based in the Morris Cowley from 1924 to 1934, and on the Morris 12/4 from 1935 to 1950. Sister company Morris Commercial Cars Ltd in Birmingham made a wide range of small to medium commercial vehicles from 1924 into the 1970s
Available from our Club Shop are two handy little reference books, “Morris Cars, the First 35 Years” and “Morris Commercials, The First Years” which explain briefly the specification of all the Morris cars and commercials, particularly showing the changes from year to year.
The Morris Cars Index, which lists the specifications for all car and van models for each year; this will help you to be sure of the precise dating of your car.
Click on theFinding Numbers guide link below, this shows where to find the VIN plate, chassis number and engine number on your Morris.