Morris Major (1931 to 1933)

Last updated

Morris Major
5696443611 010511 CPS.jpg
1931 Morris Major 6-light saloon
Overview
Manufacturer Morris Motors
Also callednew
Production1930 to 1933 [1]
Assembly United Kingdom
Body and chassis
Body style 4 door saloon [2]
2 door coupe [2]
4 door tourer [2]
Layout FR layout [1]
Powertrain
Engine 63.5 x 102 mm 14.9 hp
1938cc 6 cylinder [1]
reduced for 1932 to
61.25 x 102 mm 13.9hp
  6 cylinder [3]
Chronology
Predecessor Morris Oxford Six
Successor Morris Cowley Six

The Morris Major is an automobile produced by Morris Motors in the United Kingdom from late 1930 until 1933. [2] It was described by commentators as a Morris Oxford Six with a coachbuilt saloon body. [2] 4025 examples of the 1931 model were produced followed by 14,469 of the 1932-33 model. [1]

Contents

15 horsepower

Announced 30 August 1930 this new car was offered in two types of saloon and a coupé. [4]

Range:

The engine was similar to that of the Morris Oxford Six as was the chassis. The nominally 14.9 hp (11.1 kW) 2-litre engine was said to generate 45 bhp (34 kW) at 3 200 rpm. The gearbox provided three forward speeds. The car was fitted with six brakes, the four-wheel ones adjustable by a single winged-nut. [2]

14 horsepower

The Morris Major programme reported for the October 1931 Motor Show was:

Range of five types:

The fiscal horsepower had been dropped to 13.9 from 14.9. To achieve this the engine capacity was trimmed by a reduction of 2.25 mm in the bore so that bore and stroke became 61.25 x 102 mm giving a cubic capacity of 1803 cc. This reduced size six-cylinder engine had a four-bearing crankshaft an air-cleaner-heater and a fume-consumer head. Other standard features now included chrome finished automatic radiator shutters, a 4-speed twin-top gearbox, Lockheed hydraulic brakes and a wide 52-inch track. [3]

Special coupé

The range was extended during 1932 with a Special coupé priced at £285. [5]

Related Research Articles

Morris Oxford Motor vehicle

Morris Oxford is a series of motor car models produced by Morris of the United Kingdom, from the 1913 bullnose Oxford to the Farina Oxfords V and VI.

Morris Cowley was a name given to various cars produced by Morris from 1915 to 1958.

Morris Minor (1928) Motor vehicle

This article refers to the motor car manufactured by Morris Motors Limited from 1928–1934. For the Morris Minor manufactured by Morris Motors Limited from 1948–1971, see Morris Minor.

Rover 10 Motor vehicle

The Rover 10 was a small family car from the British Rover car company produced between 1927 and 1947.

Wolseley Hornet six Motor vehicle

The Wolseley Hornet is a six-cylinder twelve fiscal horsepower lightweight automobile which was offered as a saloon car, coupé and open two-seater as well as the usual rolling chassis for bespoke coachwork. Produced by Wolseley Motors Limited from 1930 until 1936, the Hornet was unveiled to the public at the end of April 1930. Wolseley had been bought from the receivers by William Morris in 1927.

Morris Ten Motor vehicle

The Morris Ten announced 1 September 1932 is a medium-sized car introduced for 1933 as the company's offering in the important 10 hp sector of the British market. It continued through a series of variants until October 1948 when along with Morris's Twelve and Fourteen it was replaced by the 13.5 hp Morris Oxford MO.

Rover Meteor Motor vehicle

The Rover Meteor was a short-lived 2½-litre or 2-litre medium-sized car made by The Rover Company Limited of Meteor Works Coventry. The new 2½-litre model was announced in mid-February 1930 to supplement Rover's Light Twenty which used the same engine and essentially the same chassis.

Austin 12/6 Motor vehicle

The Austin Light Twelve-Six is a 14 tax horsepower car with a 1496 cc engine that was introduced by Austin in January 1931. It was named by Austin Light Twelve to separate it from the well-established Austin Twelve. The general public then dubbed the original Twelve Heavy Twelve but Austin never used that name. The Light Twelve-Six remained in production until 1936.

Hillman 14 Motor vehicle

The Hillman Fourteen is a medium-sized 4-cylinder car announced by Hillman's managing director Spencer Wilks, a son-in-law of William Hillman, at the end of September 1925. This new Fourteen substantially increased Hillman's market share and remained on sale into 1931. During this time it was the main product of the company.

Rover 12 Name given to several medium-sized family cars from the British Rover car company

The Rover 12 was a name given to several medium-sized family cars from the British Rover car company between 1905 and 1948.

Alvis Speed 25 Motor vehicle

The Alvis 4.3-litre and Alvis Speed 25 were British luxury touring cars announced in August 1936 and made until 1940 by Alvis Car and Engineering Company in Coventry. They replaced the Alvis Speed 20 2.8-litre and 3½-litre. They were widely considered one of the finest cars produced in the 1930s.

Austin Twenty Motor vehicle

Austin Twenty is a large car introduced by Austin after the end of the First World War, in April 1919 and continued in production until 1930. After the Austin 20/6 model was introduced in 1927, the first model was referred to as the Austin 20/4.

The Rover 16/50 and Rover 16 are mid-sized cars which were produced by Rover from 1926 to 1929 and non-continuously from 1936 to 1947 respectively.

Lanchester Ten Motor vehicle

The Lanchester Ten and Lanchester Eleven were sold by The Lanchester Motor Company Limited from the Ten's announcement in September 1932 until 1951. Quite different from previous Lanchesters, the Ten was the second of Lanchester's new owner's new Daimler-linked Lanchester range. The names Ten and Eleven referred to the engine's rating for the annual tax and did not relate to the engine's power output.

The Rover Fourteen was a medium-sized family car and variants produced by the British Rover car company between 1924 and 1948. Civilian automobile production was interrupted in 1940 because of the war, but when the war ended in 1945, the Rover 14 returned to the market and remained available until replaced by the Rover 75 at the beginning of 1948.

Morris Twelve Motor vehicle

Morris Twelve is a model of Morris car introduced without fanfare in the autumn of 1934 as little more than a larger engined Morris Ten Four for which just another £5 was asked. The chassis and body were of the slow-selling longer wheelbase Ten Six. The engine though awarded a tax rating of 11.98 hp had a cubic capacity of 1548cc compared with Morris's 1292cc (10 hp) Ten Four and 1378cc (12.09 hp) Ten Six.

Vauxhall 20-60 Motor vehicle

The Vauxhall 20-60 is a four or five-seater saloon, limousine, tourer or coupé-cabriolet manufactured by Vauxhall of Luton. It was announced on 28 September 1927 with a six-cylinder engine and a four-speed gearbox. A cautious move downmarket. "The first time any six-cylinder Vauxhall has been sold under £1000!" "British & Vauxhall". The initial 2.7-litre engine was enlarged to 3-litres after twelve months.

Morris Six (1928) Motor vehicle

The Morris Six is a 2½-litre six-cylinder car with an overhead camshaft for its overhead valves first displayed at the October 1927 Motor Show at Olympia as Morris Light Six. When he bought Wolseley in February 1927 W R Morris gave Wolseley employees his reason. It was that he wanted to make good 6-cylinder cars and Wolseley could do that. He said he particularly admired their 2-litre Wolseley 16/45.

Morris Oxford Six Touring car manufactured by Morris Motors Ltd.

The Morris Oxford Six is a motor car produced by Morris of the United Kingdom from 1921 until 1926, and again from 1929 until 1935. Initially produced as a straight-six engined version of the Morris Oxford bullnose, the original Oxford Six was the first car produced by Morris with a six-cylinder engine, but proved to be unreliable. The versions produced from 1929 onwards were introduced as a replacement for the Morris Oxford 16/40.

The Hillman Straight Eight and its successor the Hillman Vortic were moderate priced mid-sized 20 tax-horsepower executive cars made by Hillman from 1929 to 1930. The lowest priced eight-cylinder car on the market the car was scarcely in full production when sales were hit by the onset of the Great Depression.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Michael Sedgwick & Mark Gillies, A-Z of Cars of the 1930s, Haymarket Publishing Ltd, 1989, page 137
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Cars Of 1931. The Times, Saturday, Aug 30, 1930; pg. 12; Issue 45605
  3. 1 2 Cars Of 1932. The Times, Saturday, Aug 29, 1931; pg. 3; Issue 45914
  4. Display advertising Morris. The Times, Saturday, Aug 30, 1930; pg. 15; Issue 45605
  5. Display advertising Morris. The Times, Friday, Sep 02, 1932; pg. 17; Issue 46228.