CarBrandLogos archive · Morris · 1935

MorrisMorris Eight

Morris's answer to the cheap Ford, and the car that got Britain driving again.

Photo: Lars-Göran Lindgren Sweden · CC BY-SA 3.0

The story

A defining chapter in Morris history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Morris Eight, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

Ford's Dagenham-built Model Y was undercutting everyone in the early 1930s, and Morris, until then the largest British manufacturer, was losing ground fast. The Eight of 1935 was the direct answer, and it looked it. The resemblance to the Ford was close enough to be remarked on at the time.

MHV Morris Eight 02 · MartinHansV · CC BY 3.0

Design and engineering

It was a conventional small car: a side-valve 918cc four, rear-wheel drive, a three-speed gearbox and hydraulic brakes, which the Ford did not have. Saloons, tourers and vans were offered, and the Series E of 1938 brought a four-speed gearbox and faired-in headlamps.

MORRIS8020809E · Humber79 · CC BY-SA 3.0

1939 Morris M8 Tourer IMG 0876 - Flickr - nemor2

In production

It worked. The Eight sold in very large numbers, restored Morris's position at the top of the market, and put a great many British families on the road for the first time. Production continued to 1948, when the Minor MM replaced it with an entirely different approach to the same problem, and made the Eight look a full generation older than it actually was.

1939 Morris M8 Tourer IMG 0876 - Flickr - nemor2 · nemor2 from Stuttgart, Germany · CC BY 2.0

At a glance