Morris Nomad

The Morris 1500 Sedan on which the Morris Nomad Hatchback is based

The Morris Nomad is a car which was produced by Leyland Australia for the Australian market from 1969 to 1972. It is a hatchback version of the Morris 1500 sedan, itself a locally produced BMC ADO16 design with a larger (1500 cc) engine. When ordered with automatic transmission, the Nomad was fitted with a 1300 cc engine. The hatchback styling resembles that of the Austin Maxi, which was never sold in Australia.

The Nomad was a small - medium sized car, sitting above the Morris Mini but below the Morris Marina in size and price.

It was a front wheel drive car, with an all independent coil suspension linked by water filled chambers, which was called Hydrolastic suspension by the company. The suspension gave a comfortable ride, only suffering a little from "droop" if overloaded in the boot, and sometimes going into oversteer if the body rolled too much with hard cornering.

Power came from an E-series SOHC engine with alloy head, with improved performance and economy compared with the original Morris 1100 model. A four speed manual or three speed automatic were available.

The body was largely identical, except with new pressings for the front and rear panels to fit with the Leyland "corporate look", and to finally get rid of the tailfins of the original model.

Market

The Nomad failed to replicate the success of the Morris 1100. The gearbox problems experienced with the Morris 1500, which was very difficult to engage into reverse because of the location of the gearstick couplings under the dashboard and the "pull-up" action, were not fixed.

The Nomad used ribbon cables for the secondary electrical circuit. These proved so disastrous, the board of Leyland decided to adopt them across the entire BMC range in the UK.

References

• Adams, Keith (2005). ADO16 in Australia. The UNOFFICIAL Austin-Rover Web Resource. Retrieved December 17, 2005.