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Minor morris6/27/2023 ![]() The Austin A30 OHV engine replaced the previous Minor’s out-dated side-valve 918cc motor, inherited from the archaic pre-war Morris Eight Series E. Morris updated its strong-selling Minor with a new 803cc engine and a fresh gearbox, re-engineering from the new baby A30, taken from Morris’ new partner Austin as part of the Nuffield Group merger in 1952. Immediately post-war, Morris placed huge emphasis in the quality of its vehicles, and it took great pride in its frequent long-distance endurance testing – a point sadly long-since forgotten though in the marque’s frightful British Leyland era. However, British customers would be lucky to get their hands on one as maximum priority was given to export buyers to help earn Britain some much-needed cash post-war. First launched in low-headlight side-valve 900cc form as a two-door saloon and convertible Tourer only, the Minor caused a sensation at the ’48 Earls Court Show as arguably the most relevant new car on display. Of this new Cowley trio though, the most significant was by far the Morris Minor, largely created by the innovative engineer Alec Issigonis. That engine was a detuned version of the Wolseley 6/80, the Morris’ more up-market Nuffield Organisation twin, which also debuted 1948 Earls Court Show. The latter shared the Oxford MO’s bodyshell aft of the A-pillars, with a longer nose and traditional upright grille to accommodate the big 2.2-litre 68PS (50kW) in-line six. It was introduced alongside the Cowley-based marque’s larger 1.5-litre Oxford MO, plus the more formal Morris Six. The Morris Minor was one of the stars of the legendary 1948 London Motor Show staged at Earls Court.
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