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Morris 10 Saloon

Morris 10 Saloon

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Morris 10 SaloonMorris 10 SaloonMorris 10 SaloonMorris 10 SaloonMorris 10 Saloon
Morris 10 Saloon
Lot number 84
Hammer value £6,000
Description Morris 10 Saloon
Registration CG 4844
Year c.1933
Colour Blue
Engine size 1,292 cc
Chassis No. 12863
Engine No. 13291
Documents V5C; 11 old MOTs; handbook; information manual; bills

William Morris established Morris Motors Ltd in Cowley in 1919 and by 1924 was the UK's biggest car manufacturer, making 2,000 vehicles a week.

Morris diversified his business interests with the founding or acquisition of subsidiary companies producing engines, pressed steel bodywork and other components. Morris Commercials built trucks and taxi cabs, and firms such as MG, Wolseley and Riley became part of the organisation. However, it was the small to medium sector of the market which would prove to be most lucrative.

They entered the small car market in 1928, first with the Morris Minor and then the Morris 8 in 1934. Alongside these, the ten horsepower bracket took a large slice of the UK market with Austin, Morris, Ford, Vauxhall and Hillman all selling similar products head-to-head.

The Morris 10 was introduced in 1933 and proved a very successful formula. Built around a conventional ladder chassis, it was fitted with a side valve 1,292cc 4-cylinder engine employing a single SU carburettor which produced 24bhp. The gearbox was a four-speed manual transmission unit, and Lockheed hydraulic brakes were fitted. Body styles at the launch were restricted to a saloon and two-door coupé but a four-door tourer joined the range in December, followed in 1934 by a two-seater with dickey seat and a Traveller's Saloon.

By the summer of 1933, a 12hp six-cylinder version was added called the Morris 10/6 and to avoid confusion, the four-cylinder car was renamed the 10/4. A total of 49,238 Morris 10s and Morris 10/4s were built before they were replaced by the revised Morris 10 Series II in 1935.

This very smart Morris 10 is believed to date from the early part of 1933 and was purchased by the vendor earlier this year. A gentleman of advancing years, he has reluctantly come to the conclusion that it is a bit harder to manage than he had anticipated, hence it's appearance in this catalogue.

Purchased from a gentleman in Cambridge, the car looks to be an older restoration which remains in very presentable condition. The interior has been retrimmed and a new headlining fitted at some point in the recent past, and bills on file from 2010 show that it was fitted with four new exhaust valves, new head studs and a new clutch release bearing. An original handbook and a general information file is also included in the sale.

The engine started straight away and the car ran very sweetly when driving it to take the photographs. The vendor advises us that there are no real jobs that need doing to the car in his opinion, and it is ready for immediate use. These sturdy and reliable cars were built at a time when Morris was a byword for quality and dependability, this well-sorted example looking like a lot of car at the modest guide price.

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