Morris Minor

Morris Minor
Morris Minor 1000 4-door saloon
Overview
Manufacturer	Morris Motors (1948–1952) British Motor Corporation (1952–1968) British Leyland (1968–1971) Thai Motor Corporation (1968–1971)
Production	1948–1971 1,619,958 produced [1]
Assembly	United Kingdom: Cowley, Oxford, England Malaysia Thailand Malta Australia[2] New Zealand[3] South Africa[4]
Designer	Sir Alec Issigonis
Body and chassis
Class	Economy car[5]
Layout	FR layout
Dimensions
Wheelbase	86 in (2,184 mm)[6]
Length	148 in (3,759 mm)
Width	60 in (1,524 mm)
Height	60 in (1,524 mm)
Kerb weight	1,708 lb (775 kg) (four-door saloon)
Chronology
Predecessor	Morris Eight
Successor	Morris Marina

The Morris Minor is an economy car produced by British marque Morris Motors between 1948 and 1971.^[7] It made its debut at the Earls Court Motor Show, London, in October 1948.^[8] Designed under the leadership of Alec Issigonis, more than 1.6 million were manufactured in three series: the Series MM (1948 to 1953), the Series II (1952 to 1956), and the 1000 series (1956 to 1971).

Initially available as a two-door saloon and tourer (convertible), the range was expanded to include a four-door saloon from September 1950. An estate car with a wooden frame (the Traveller) was produced from October 1953 and panel van and pick-up truck variants from May 1953.^[9] It was the first British car to sell over a million units,^[10] and is considered a classic example of automotive design,^[11] as well as typifying "Englishness".^{[12][13][14][15]}

Although Morris launched a new model with a similar name and a similar market positioning, the Morris Mini in 1959, the Minor remained in production for more than a decade after that, and in early 2020, its 23-year production run was counted as the twenty-eighth most long-lived single generation car in history by Autocar magazine, who called it: "... a primary way Britain got back on the road after the Second World War."^[16]