Hand spraying a chassis – Paint shop, Cowley 1930
The pre-war Morris Minor was in continuous production at the Morris Motors, Cowley factory for six full years. The car was produced in seven variants, five on the short wheel base chassis and a further two on an extended or long wheel base version. Two engine types were also used, the earlier and technically advanced 847 cc overhead camshaft unit was fitted to all cars produced up to January 1931, at which time a new, similar capacity side valve engine was introduced to power the £100 Minor and a further range of economy models. The OHC unit continued to be fitted to the lwb models until August 1932, after which time all Minor models were powered by the S.V. engine.
The most successful year for the Minor was1932 when a total of 19,248 cars found customers but its main competitor, the Austin Seven, consistently out-sold the Minor and continued to be produced in one form or another until 1939. Download the production stats PDF: