- Morris Commercial Cars
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See also: Morris Motor Company
Morris Commercial 1 ton van of 1928
Morris Commercial Cars Limited was a British manufacturer of commercial vehicles founded by William Morris, who was also the founder of the Morris Motor Company.
History
The company was founded in 1924 when Morris bought the assets of E.G. Wrigley and Company after it went into receivership late in 1923. Up until that point a small number of commercial vehicle variants of Morris cars were built at the Morris plant at Cowley, but with the newly acquired plant in Foundry lane, Soho, Birmingham serious production began.
In 1932 the company moved a few miles across Birmingham to Adderley Park.
In 1936 Morris sold the company to Morris Motors Limited[1]. The use of the Morris Commercial brand name continued until 1968[1] when British Motor Holdings, by then the parent of Austin and Morris, merged with the Leyland Motor Corporation to form the British Leyland Motor Corporation.
During the 1960s the light trucks and forward-control J4 light vans produced by Austin and Morris commercial were identical[2].
While production of the light vans remained concentrated on the Birmingham Adderley Park site, production of the F-series and W-series light trucks moved to Scotland with the opening in 1960 of the company's Bathgate plant[2].
The light trucks in the 1960s included the FF, a forward-control design introduced in 1958, along with the WF which was a sibling vehicle with the driver placed behind the engine rather than on top of it. The updated version of the FF, the FJ, appeared in 1964: the FJ featured a split-circuit braking system which was a novelty in this class of vehicle[2]. The FF remained in production and the two vehicles were offered side by side: in this class the BMC trucks were nevertheless out-competed in terms of domestic market sales volumes by US transplant manufacturers Bedford and Ford (Thames)[2]. Austin/Morris commercial vehicles in the 1960s also included the Austin/Morris FG-series an unusual looking urban delivery truck with driver doors set at an angle at the rear corners of the cab in order to permit access in confined spaces[2].
Vehicles
Notes
- ^ a b "MSS.226/MC Morris Commercial Cars Ltd. 1924-1968". A Summary Description of the Papers of the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust. http://www.warwick.ac.uk/services/library/mrc/ead/226umb.htm#N1731.
- ^ a b c d e "The [BMH] group's Big 'Uns: Commercial Variety". Autocar 127 nbr 3730: pages 77–78. 10 August 1967.
Categories:- Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United Kingdom
- Morris Commercial vehicles
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