Editing Morris Motors (section)

==History==

===Early history===
WRM Motors Ltd began in 1912 when [[bicycle]] manufacturer [[William Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield|William Morris]] moved on from the sale, hire, and repair of cars to car manufacturing. He planned a new light car assembled from bought-in components.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-08-01 |title=Brief History of Morris Motors |url=https://morrisregister.co.uk/brief-history-of-morris-motors/ |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Morris Register |language=en-GB}}</ref> In this way he was able to retain ownership by keeping within the bounds of his own capital resources.

A factory was opened in 1913 at former [[Oxford Military College]] at [[Cowley, Oxford]], [[United Kingdom]] where Morris's first car, the 2-seat [[Morris Oxford bullnose|Morris Oxford "Bullnose"]], was assembled.<ref name=Beaulieu>{{cite book |last=Georgano |first=N.  | author-link=G.N. Georgano |title=Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile |year=2000 |publisher=HMSO |location=London |isbn=1-57958-293-1}}</ref> Nearly all the major components were bought in.

In 1914 a coupé and van were added to the line-up, but the Bullnose chassis was too short and the 1018&nbsp;cc engine too small to make a much-needed 4-seat version of the car.  [[White and Poppe]], who made the engine, were unable to supply the volume of units that Morris required, so Morris turned to [[Continental Motors Company|Continental]] of [[Detroit|Detroit, Michigan]] for the supply of a 1548&nbsp;cc engine.<ref name=Beaulieu/> [[Gearboxes]] and axles were also sourced in the US.

In spite of the outbreak of the First World War the orders were maintained and, from mid-1915 a new larger car, the 2-seat and 4-seat [[Morris Cowley]] was introduced.

===Inter-war years===
After the war the Continental engine was no longer available so Morris arranged for [[Hotchkiss et Cie|Hotchkiss]] of France to make a near copy in their [[Coventry]] factory. This was used to power new versions of the basic Cowley and more up-market [[Morris Oxford bullnose|Morris Oxford]] cars.

With a reputation for producing high-quality cars and a policy of cutting prices, Morris's business continued to grow and increase its share of the British market overtaking [[Ford of Britain|Ford]] to become in 1924 the UK's biggest car manufacturer, holding a 51% share of the home market and remaining enormously profitable.

Possessed of a very large cash income Morris had a policy of personally buying up suppliers' businesses. For example, in 1923 he bought Hotchkiss's Coventry business which later became [[Morris Engines]] branch. He also brought in [[Frank George Woollard|F G Woollard]] which became [[Morris Commercial Cars]] to lead the re-organization of their engine production from batch to flow, thus increasing output from less than 300 units per week to 1200. By 1924 the factory was making 2000 units a week with only a small increase in work space and labour force.<ref>G. T. Bloomfield, ‘Harriman, Sir George William (1908–1973)’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004</ref>

[[Cecil Kimber]], head of Morris's own original 1909-founded Morris Garage sales hire and repair operation in Oxford, began building sporting versions of Morris cars in 1924 labelling them [[MG Cars|MG]]. They were so successful a separate MG factory was soon established south of Oxford in [[Abingdon, Oxfordshire]].

Having admired Budd's all-steel bodies Morris founded [[Pressed Steel Company|The Pressed Steel Company of Great Britain Limited]] in 1926 as a joint venture with [[Budd Corporation|Edward G Budd Manufacturing Company - Budd International]] of Philadelphia, USA.<ref>Offer for sale of shares - Pressed Steel Company Limited. ''The Times'', Tuesday, 7 April 1936; p. 21; Issue 47343</ref> Pressed Steel's factory was located over the road from Morris's factory at Cowley and supplied Morris and many other motor manufacturers. Morris withdrew from the venture in mid-1930. Budd sold their share to British interests at the beginning of 1936.<ref>Pressed Steel Company.''The Times'', Friday, 10 January 1936; p. 19; Issue 47268</ref>

[[File:Morris cars on the forecourt of Mr J. Kellys garage at Catherine Street, Waterford.jpg|left|thumb|An array of Morris cars on the forecourt of Mr J. Kelly's garage at Catherine Street, Waterford, Ireland, 1928]]
The small car market was entered in 1928 with the [[Leonard Lord]]-designed [[Morris Minor (1928)|Morris Minor]], using an 847&nbsp;cc engine from Morris's newly acquired [[Wolseley Motors]]. Lord had been sent there to modernise the works and Wolseley's products. The Minor was to provide the base for the [[MG M-type|MG Midgets]]. This timely spread into the small car market helped Morris through the economic depression of the 1930s. At the 1934 [[London Motor Show]] the Minor was replaced by the [[Morris Eight]], a direct response to the [[Ford Model Y]] and, though Leonard Lord's handiwork, heavily based on it.

In 1932 W R Morris appointed Lord Managing Director of Morris Motors Limited and Lord swept through the Morris works, updating the production methods, introducing a proper moving assembly line and creating Europe's largest integrated car plant.<ref>R. J. Overy, ‘Morris, William Richard, Viscount Nuffield (1877–1963)’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004</ref> But Morris and Lord fell out, and after 15 years Lord left in 1936—threatening to "take Cowley apart brick by brick".<ref>Graham Turner, The Leyland Papers, London 1971, p. 91</ref> Lord moved to Austin and they were to meet again in BMC—Morris, as Lord Nuffield, its first chairman. Lord succeeded him.

As of 1 July 1935 Morris Motors acquired from W R Morris, now Lord Nuffield, in exchange for a further issue of ordinary shares to him, the car manufacturing businesses of Wolseley Motors Limited and The MG Car Company Limited. A separate private company, [[Wolseley Motors#Aero engines|Wolseley Aero Engines Limited]],  was then formed to continue the development of his aviation interests.<ref>Wolseley And M.G. Companies.''The Times'', Friday, 14 June 1935; p. 20; Issue 47090.</ref> In 1936 Lord Nuffield sold [[Morris Commercial Cars|Morris Commercial Cars Limited]], his [[van|commercial vehicle]] enterprise, to Morris Motors.<ref>Morris Motors Limited, Notice issued in compliance with&nbsp;... ''The Times'', Tuesday, 13 October 1936; p. 22; Issue 47504.</ref>

[[File:1925 Morris Cowley 8051496928.jpg|thumb|1925 Morris—42 per cent of production]]
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%; text-align:center;" width=50%
|-
|+Car production in Britain 1919–1938 (per cent)<ref>Roy A Church, ''The Rise and Decline of the British Motor Industry'', p. 39, Cambridge University Press 1995 {{ISBN|0521552834}}</ref>
|-
!
! 1919
! 1921
! 1923
! 1925
! 1927
! 1929
! 1932
! 1935
! 1938
|-

| Morris
| 2
| 10
| 28
| 42
| 37
| 35
| 33
| 31
| 23
|-

| Austin
| 
| 7
| 8
| 10
| 23
| 25
| 27
| 23
| 21
|-

| Ford
| 
| 22
| 11
| 2
| 6
| 4
| 6
| 17
| 18
|-

| [[Rootes Group|Rootes]], [[Standard Motor Company|Standard]], [[Vauxhall Motors|Vauxhall]]
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 8
| 23
| 23
| 31
|-
|}
In 1938 William Morris, Baron Nuffield was raised to Viscount Nuffield. The same year he transferred his newly acquired<ref>Riley Motors. Purchase by Lord Nuffield, ''The Times'', Saturday, 10 September 1938; p. 17; Issue 48096</ref> [[Riley (motor-car)|Riley]] car business to Morris Motors Limited for £100.<ref name=obt>Obituary, Mr. Victor Riley. ''The Times'', Tuesday, 11 February 1958; p. 10; Issue 54072</ref>
[[File:Morris Iron Lung Thackray.jpg|thumb|Diorama of Both-Nuffield iron lung assembly at Morris Motors<br />[[Thackray Medical Museum]], Leeds]]

===Iron Lung===
Visiting London in 1938 during a [[polio]] epidemic Lord Nuffield saw a Both [[Iron lung|Iron Lung]] in use.  He commissioned an improved design which could be produced using the techniques of car assembly and arranged production of approximately 1700 machines at the Cowley works, which he donated to hospitals throughout all parts of Britain and the British Empire.<ref name="Langmore">{{cite book| editor-last=Langmore| editor-first=Diane| title=Australian Dictionary of Biography: Volume 17 1981-1990 A-K| publisher=[[Melbourne University Publishing]]| location=Carlton, Victoria| year=2009| page=129| isbn=978-0522853827}}</ref>

Both-Nuffield respirators were able to be produced by the thousand at about one-thirteenth the cost of the American design.<ref name="Healey">{{cite web| last=Healey| first=John| year=1998| url=http://www.samhs.org.au/Virtual%20Museum/Medicine/Bothurinlung/bothironlung-netley.html| title=The Both Brothers and the 'Iron Lung' | publisher=South Australian Medical Heritage Society Inc| access-date=10 June 2016}}</ref>

[[File:1938 Wolseley 25hp Drophead Coupe (16651208945).jpg|thumb|1936 Wolseley]]
[[File:Riley 12 Rathfarnham Castle 023 (8515054085).jpg|thumb|1939 Riley]]

=== Significant subsidiaries ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Subsidiary
! founded or acquired by W R Morris, <br />Viscount Nuffield
! acquired by Morris Motors Limited
|-
| style="text-align:left;&quot;" | W R Morris
| 1912
| 1926
|-
| style="text-align:left;&quot;" | [[Morris Engines]]
| 1923
| 1926
|-
| style="text-align:left;&quot;" | [[Morris Commercial Cars|Morris Commercial]]
| 1923
| 1936
|-
| style="text-align:left;&quot;" | [[MG Cars|MG]]
| 1924
| 1935
|-
| style="text-align:left;&quot;" | [[Nuffield Press]]
| 1925
|
|-
| style="text-align:left;&quot;" | [[Pressed Steel Company|Pressed Steel]]
| 1926
| never, but acquired by BMC in 1965
|-
| style="text-align:left;&quot;" | [[SU Carburettor|SU]]
| 1926
| 1926
|-
| style="text-align:left;&quot;" | [[Wolseley Motors|Wolseley]]
| 1927
| 1935
|-
| style="text-align:left;&quot;" | [[Nuffield Mechanisation and Aero|Nuffield Mechanizations]]
| 1935
| WWII
|-
| style="text-align:left;&quot;" | [[Riley Motor#Nuffield Organisation|Riley]]
| 1938
| 1938
|}

===Second World War===
In the summer of 1938 Morris [[British shadow factories#Background|agreed to build, equip and manage at government expense]] a [[Castle Bromwich Assembly|huge new factory]] at [[Castle Bromwich]] specifically to manufacture [[Supermarine Spitfire]]s.<ref>[https://www.angelfire.com/sd2/spitfirefactory/ Castle Bromwich] Retrieved: 9 February 2008.</ref> with intention to build bombers later.  Nuffield's management failed; no Spitfires were delivered by May 1940 despite expectation of 60 a day. The [[Minister of Aircraft Production|Ministry of Aircraft Production]] took over the plant putting in managers from Supermarine and placing it under  [[Vickers-Armstrongs]] (of which Supermarine was a part) supervision.  After a major air raid damaged the Morris Bodies factory, the premises switched to the production of [[jerry can]]s, producing millions of these versatile containers for use during the rest of the war and following the ending of hostilities.<ref name=Autocar197306>{{cite journal | journal = [[Autocar (magazine)|Autocar]] |volume=138 (nbr 4022) |title=Sixty Years of Morris |pages=4–9 |date=28 June 1973}}</ref>  The Cowley plant was turned over to aircraft repair and production of [[de Havilland Tiger Moth|Tiger Moth]] pilot trainers, as well as "mine sinkers" based on a design produced at the same plant during the First World War.<ref name=Autocar197306/>
[[File:Morris.minor.bristol.750pix.jpg|thumb|The Morris Minor was one of the most popular cars from Morris.]]

Morris produced the popular [[Morris C8]] Quad artillery prime mover towing artillery (such as the [[25-pounder]]) and anti-tank guns (such as the [[17-pounder]]) with some 10,200 made. Morris also produced some 2200 [[Morris Light Reconnaissance Car]]s, 100 [[Morris CS9]] armoured cars, 21,319 [[Morris CS8]] 15cwt light trucks, the Morris C4 truck, Morris ML ambulance, 500 Morris Commercial 8x8 GS [[Terrapin (amphibious vehicle)]]s, and the Morris Commercial CD series trucks.

===Post-Second World War production===

Production restarted after the Second World War, with the pre-war Eight and [[Morris Ten|Ten]] designs. In 1948 the Eight was replaced by what is probably the most famous Morris car, the [[Morris Minor]] designed by [[Alec Issigonis]] (who later went on to design the [[Mini]]) and reusing the small car name from 1928. The Ten was replaced by a new 1948 [[Morris Oxford MO]], styled like a larger version of the Minor. A later Morris Oxford (the 1956 Morris Oxford III) was the basis for the design of India's [[Hindustan Ambassador]], which continued in production until 2014.

{{Gallery
|title=The nine different cars made by Morris Motors and its wholly owned subsidiaries at the time of the formation of BMC
|width=120
|height=80
|align=left
|File:Morris Six first reg July 1953 2215cc.JPG|Morris Six<br />2215 cc
|File:Morris Oxford MO Saloon.jpg|Morris Oxford<br />1476 cc
|File:1949 Morris Minor.jpg|Morris Minor<br />918 cc
|File:MG Type YA Saloon.jpg|M.G. 1¼-litre<br />1250 cc
|File:MG 1950 - Flickr - mick - Lumix.jpg|MG TD Midget<br />1250 cc

}}
{{Gallery
|title=
|width=120
|height=80
|align=left

|File:Wolseley 6-80.jpg|Wolseley 6/80<br />2215 cc
|File:Wolseley 4-50 front.jpg|Wolseley 4/50<br />1476 cc
}}
{{Gallery
|title=
|width=120
|height=80
|align=left

|File:1950 Riley 2.5L RMD AL-58-52 p5.jpg|Riley 2½-litre<br />2443 cc
|File:1.5 litres Riley.jpg|Riley 1½-litre<br />1496 cc
}}
{{clear}}

They used six engines and five (and a half) car bodies, of which the "specialist" three were obsolescent, the rest very closely related if not identical.

===BMC===
[[File:Morris Oxford 1958 8759415518.jpg|thumb|The Morris Oxford Series III, launched in 1955–56, only had a short production run in the UK, but it was manufactured in India as the [[Hindustan Ambassador]] by [[Hindustan Motors]] with periodic changes till 2014]]
[[File:1968 Morris Mini Cooper S - Flickr - exfordy.jpg|thumb|The Morris Mini launched in 1959 would influence a whole new generation into small cars. The Mini was produced until 2000.]]
In 1952 the [[Nuffield Organization]] merged with its old rival the [[Austin Motor Company]] to form the [[British Motor Corporation]] (BMC). Nuffield brought the Morris, MG, Riley and Wolseley marques into the merger. Leonard Lord was in charge, which led to Austin's domination of the organisation. [[Badge-engineering]] was important to BMC and for many years the various marques would be seen on several families of similar vehicles.

===British Leyland===
{{Unreferenced section|date=December 2017}}In 1966, BMC acquired [[Jaguar Cars|Jaguar]] to create [[British Motor Holdings]] (BMH), which subsequently merged with [[Leyland Motors]] in 1968 to form the [[British Leyland|British Leyland Motor Corporation]] (BLMC), and subsequently, in 1975, the [[nationalised]] [[British Leyland|British Leyland Limited]] (BL).  The Cowley complex remained the second largest single facility in the BL empire (after [[Longbridge plant|Longbridge]]), but BL's history was a turbulent one – BMC was close to financial ruin, and the newly installed Leyland management failed to turn its fortunes around.

With the replacement for the [[Morris Marina]] and [[Leyland Princess]] being delayed into the 1980s, the Marina was restyled in 1980 to become the Morris Ital, while the Princess was restyled for 1982 to become the [[Austin Ambassador]]. British Leyland later confirmed that the Morris brand would be discontinued on the all-new replacement for these two cars, which was finally launched in April 1984 as the [[Austin Montego]].

The [[Morris Ital]] (essentially a facelifted Marina) was the last Morris-badged passenger car, with production ending in the summer of 1984. The last ''Morris'' of all was a van variant of the [[Rover Metro|Austin Metro]], before the Morris brand was finally completely abandoned in 1987.

After much restructuring of BL in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the former Morris plant at Cowley and its sister site the former [[Pressed Steel Company|Pressed Steel]] plant were turned over to the production of Austin and Rover-badged vehicles. They continued to be used by BL's [[Austin Rover Group]] and its successor the [[Rover Group]], which was eventually bought by [[BMW]], and then by a management consortium, leading to the creation of [[MG Rover]].

None of the former Morris buildings now exist. [[British Aerospace]] sold the site in 1992; it was then demolished and replaced with the Oxford Business Park. The adjacent former Pressed Steel site (now known as Plant Oxford) is owned and operated by BMW, who use it to assemble the [[Mini (BMW)|new MINI]].

The history of William Morris's business is commemorated in the Morris Motors Museum at the [[Oxford Bus Museum]].

Post-Morris cars to have been built at Cowley include the [[Austin Maestro|Austin/MG Maestro]], [[Austin Montego|Austin/MG Montego]], [[Rover 600]], [[Rover 800]] and (for a short time) the [[Rover 75]].

=== Cancelled Revival ===
Following the bankruptcy of the [[MG Rover Group]] in 2005, three competing bids were launched aiming to acquire the company's assets. One of the bids, led by [[Maserati]] CEO [[Martin Leach (executive)|Martin Leach]] alongside [[China|Chinese]] state-owned [[SAIC Motor|Shanghai Automotive Industries Corporation (SAIC)]], included plans for a Morris Minor revival. Despite this, the bid was lost to the [[Nanjing Automobile|Nanjing Automobile Corporation]] and the new Minor was not produced, although Nanjing Automobile Corporation later merged with SAIC, with all assets, including the Morris marque, being transferred to SAIC.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bremner |first=Richard |date=10 April 2024 |title=Exclusive: Top secret plan to revive the Morris Minor {{!}} Autocar |url=https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/exclusive-top-secret-plan-revive-morris-minor |access-date=2024-10-29 |website=www.autocar.co.uk |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Reeves |first=Felix |date=10 April 2024 |title=British classic car industry almost saw the return of legendary Morris Minor |url=https://www.gbnews.com/lifestyle/cars/british-classic-car-morris-minor-return |access-date=2024-10-29 |website=www.gbnews.com |language=en}}</ref>