Morris 8 Series 1 Two-door Saloon

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Morris had entered the small car market in 1928 with the Leonard Lord-designed Morris Minor using an 847cc OHC engine from Morris's newly acquired Wolseley Motors.

This timely spread into the small car market helped Morris through the economic depression of the 1930s. The Minor’s main rival was the Austin Seven which had appeared some years earlier in 1923, and these two offerings from Austin and Morris, together with their later derivatives, continued to fight for the dominance of the small car market throughout 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 heavily based upon it. Small and affordable but with room for all the family, it was far more suited to Britain's increasingly crowded roads than the larger models that had formerly underpinned the Morris range.

Available as a two- or four-seat tourer and a two- or four-door saloon, the Eight was based on a separate channel section chassis with a 7ft 6ins wheelbase. Powered by a 23.5bhp UB Series 918cc four-cylinder side-valve engine, driving through a three-speed box with synchromesh on the top two gears, it was capable of 60mph and 40mpg economy. It also benefited from hydraulic brakes and a good level of equipment.

A total of 164,102 Series 1 cars were produced until it was replaced with the uprated and restyled Series 2 in 1937, proving such a success that it enabled Morris to regain its position as Britain's largest motor manufacturer.

This very smart 1935 Series 1 two-door comes from a deceased estate and sadly the history file doesn’t contain much in the way of information about its history. It has clearly been well restored in the not-too-distant past and has been in regular use until around a year ago. It was sold to the deceased by West Riding Classics as shown by an invoice on file and is due to be up-and-running by the time of the sale.

AMENDMENT - We have been advised that this vehicle has a faulty trafficator.