Last updated on August 18, 2024
Today’s truck is a 1961 Morris Minor 1/4 Ton Pickup owned by Nancy Howe. It was purchased in 1978 then pasted down from her Father to her Mother then to Nancy at the age of 15. I photographed this car at the British Car Show held at The Zimmerman Automobile Driving Museum located in El Segundo, CA. The car is finished in Neptune Blue with a black leather cloth upholstery and black carpet interior. It is powered by a 54 hp 1098cc, in line 4 cylinder OHV engine, with twin SU HS2 side draft carburetors, mated to a 4-speed manual transmission with a 4.55:1 . Slowing this beauty down are Lockheed drum brakes in all 4-corners. The front suspension is an independent long torsion-bar front suspension with piston type shock absorbers. The rear suspension is a 3/4 floating axle with semi-elliptic longitudinal leaf springs with telescoping shock absorbers and anti-sway mounting. The pickup differed from the monocoque construction of the passenger cars variants by having a separate chassis.
The Morris Minor was designed by Sir Alec Issigonis. The 1/4 Ton pickups were produced from 1953–1971 in England, New Zealand and Denmark. Though apparently, some were delivered in 1972 and 1973 and CKD kits were still being assembled in Australia until as late as 1975. The total production of 541,488 Morris Minor trucks were built. The MSRP was $1,914. The published top speed of 74 MPH with a 0-60 mph time of around 30 seconds depending on the vehicle type.
This is a great example of Morris Minor 1000 Pickup. What a great truck to take to British and European car shows, Cars and Coffee events or just a cruising around town with a possible trip to the lumber yard!. Thank you for riding along. Frank
