Tag Archives: Traveller

More Power Bigger Drums – Morris Oxford II

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For 1948 Alex Issigonis designed the Morris Oxford to compliment the smaller Morris Minor is the Morris model mix, the Oxford MO boasted a 40.5 hp 4 cylinder side valve motor inherited from the prewar Morris 10 which it replaced, unitary body construction, torsion bar front suspension and hydraulically activated 8 inch drum brakes with which to bring the 72 mph vehicle to rest.

Morris Oxford II, Cotswold Classic Car Club, Frogsmill, Andoversford

In 1952 Morris merged with it’s great rival Austin with William Morris, now Lord Nuffield, becoming the British Motor Corporation’s first Chairman, thanks to the merger Morris was able to ditch it’s antiquated motors for those from the Austin range.

Morris Oxford II, Cotswold Classic Car Club, Frogsmill, Andoversford

As a consequence the Morris Oxford II first seen in 1954 was powered by a 50 hp Austin designed 4 cylinder over head valve B series motor which increased the top speed to 74 mph better acceleration and better fuel consumption 28 mpg up from 26 mpg of the Oxford MO.

Morris Oxford II, Cotswold Classic Car Club, Frogsmill, Andoversford

The column shift 1955 Oxford II, seen here earlier this year as the Cotswold Classic Car Club Meeting held at Frogsmill Andoversford, was equipped with 9 inch hydraulic brakes to cope with the increase in performance and came with a heater as standard.

Morris Oxford II, Cotswold Classic Car Club, Frogsmill, Andoversford

The Oxford II was available in 4 door saloon / sedan or 2 door Traveller Estate / Station wagon variants, the former of which would live on as the Hindustan Landmaster built under licence until 1958 in India.

Morris Oxford II, Cotswold Classic Car Club, Frogsmill, Andoversford

From 1954 87,342 Oxford II’s were built at plants in the UK and Australia until 1956 when the model was replaced by the Morris Oxford III.

Thanks for joining me on this “More Power Bigger Brakes” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Goodwood Revival #7 Jaguar Foxbat

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In the last of this series of blogs about the Goodwood Revival, today we are looking at a unique Jaguar XK150.

Jaguar XK 150 Foxbat, Goodwood, Revival

The XK150 was launched in 1957, updating the XK140 with a one piece windscreen, higher wing line over thinner doors and wider bonnet.

Jaguar XK 150 Foxbat, Goodwood, Revival

The XK150 was powered by the same 3.4 litre double overhead cam iron block straight 6 motor which was available with a standard 180 hp or with an SE spec 210 hp featuring a modified cylinder head.

Jaguar XK 150 Foxbat, Goodwood, Revival

Initially the XK150 was slower than the XK140 until the introduction of a 250 hp ‘S’ motor featuring triple carburetors and straight ported cylinder head.

Jaguar XK 150 Foxbat, Goodwood, Revival

Legend has it that this 1959 car belonged to an industrial chemist in Swindon called Geoffrey Stevens in the mid 1970’s. Mr & Mrs Stevens wanted a car that could carry their two Labradors.

Jaguar XK 150 Foxbat, Goodwood, Revival

Over a period of two years from 1975 to 1977 Mr Stevens set about restoring his rusty XK150 and grafting the back of a Morris Minor Traveller onto the back of his car turning it into a shooting break, with enough space to carry his dogs.

Jaguar XK 150 Foxbat, Goodwood, Revival

The rear lights come from a Mini Traveller, apparently the badges on the boot were hand cut by my Stevens.

Jaguar XK 150 Foxbat, Goodwood, Revival

The Foxbat came up for auction at Goodwood with an estimated value of £30,000 – £35,000, surprisingly it did not find a buyer.

Thanks for joining me on this Foxbat edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’ I hope you will join me tomorrow when I’ll be looking at some of the vehicles that took part in last weekends Palos Verdes Concours, if you think you know your motorcars you might be surprised at some of these most of which I had not heard of until Geoffrey Horton sent me his photo’s. Don’t forget to come back now !

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More bodywork with an ash frame – Morris Minor 1000 Traveller

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The Morris Minor was conceived by Sir Alec Issigonis, best known as the father of the revolutionary ‘Mini‘ and entered production in 1948.

There were 3 series of ‘Moggie thou’ this particular 67/68 model is one of the third series, distiguishable by a single piece windscreen and officially known as Minor 1000.

Powered by a 4 cylinder BMC A series 1098 cc / 67 cui motor the car could achieve 77 mph.

The two door Estate/Stationwagon version was introduced with the second series of the Minor in 1952.

Minor Travellers like the later Mini Traveller featured a varnished ash framework, the same timber as used internally by Morgan.

At the time production of Morris Minors was discontinued each vehicle was estimated to be losing the British Leyland Motor Corporation around £9.

One might be forgiven for thinking the door lock was an afterthought, but I can remember public awareness campaigns on television advising us to lock cars at all times in the late 1960’s early 1970’s long before the crime of ‘joy riding’ had been thought of.

I have driven a couple of Minors and they are very easy to handle at a sedate pace, they do not feel anywhere near as solid or purposeful as a VW Beetle, great for tootling around country lanes all day but not so comfortable on an Autobahn as the Beetle was.

Minors have featured on a number TV series the Traveller probably most famously on ‘Heartbeat’ a series about the Police in Yorkshire set in the 1960’s. There is even a Corgi die cast available complete with Sergeant Oscar Blaketon figure.

For the serious Moggie Thou fan there is also a 1:12 scale model available complete with opening doors !

Thanks for popping by today’s sedate edition of “Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres”, hope you’ll join me tomorrow for more, don’t forget to come back now !

Please note :- I do not in anyway endorse, or have any commercial interest in the products or distributors highlighted in today’s feature, I am merely passing the information on as an enthusiast of all things motoring, I have no experience of handling these products nor have I used these vendors. I recommend anyone interested in these items or distributors do their own thorough investigation into suitability, reliability and particularly prices of both products and vendors before making any purchasing decisions.

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