It may seem remarkable now, but in the early 1960s (indeed most of the 1960s and into 1970s), BMC, and later BLMC, was the most confused and unfocussed manufacturer in Europe, maybe the world, measured by the contrasts within its model range. Or maybe it doesn’t.
VW was still sticking to rear engined knitting; Citroen was offering a range of exclusively front wheel drive cars, in a rather disjointed graduation of models (2CV, Ami and, then, the DS); Ford (in Britain, Germany had its own Fords then) and Vauxhall had ranges of consistently conservative, rear drive cars, with a dash of style; Rootes pretty much the same; Peugeot something better but still conservative, with front wheel drive at the lower end; Renault was rear engined and then leading the way with the front wheel drive hatchback Renault 16; Fiat had rear engined small cars and conservative larger cars. BMC, the front wheel drive innovator, offered the Mini, the ADO16 (Austin/Morris/MG 1100/1300, the Austin/Morris 1800 (the Landcrab), alongside a confusing range of sportscars (how many small 2 seat roadsters do you need? There were 3 to choose from), and the innovative (and poorly executed) Austin Maxi that came in 1968. 
Alongside them, BMC also had the unusually configured semi hatchback Austin A40 which soldiered on, as well the featured cars, both essentially cars of earlier eras that should have given their pension books some time previously. The Wolsely 16/60 was the top of the range version of the BMC Farina saloon, first shown in 1957 as the 15/50, and significantly revised in 1961 to become the 16/60. The key differences were a 1.6 litre B series engine, in place of a 1.5 litre with 60 bhp instead of 50 bhp (you spotted that, though, from the model designation), a lengthened wheelbase and widened tracks, and slightly toned down styling, showing a little more Farina elegance and a little less North American pizzazz. 
But, underneath this, this was as conservative as the idea of keeping pounds, shillings and pence, or asking the BBC newsreader to wear black tie to read the news (on the radio!). Against the Cortina, it was like wearing blazer and cravat instead of a suit and tie on dress down Friday. 
The Farina saloon was the zenith of BMC’s 1960s badge engineering addiction, as previously reviewed on CC, being offered in 5 brands and through two dealership chains in the UK at least. It was not a great car, being slow and heavy compared with later cars such as the Cortina, and by the mid 1960s the car was looking old, both outright and in concept compared with a Cortina, Victor 101 or Hunter. Poduction finally ended in 1971, when the last Morris Oxford was superseded by the Marina. Progress, of a sort. 
BMC had actually planned to replace the car by the early 1960s with the concept that became the Landcrab, but were overtaken by events (notably the 1956-57 Suez Crisis and subsequent oil supply situation) and prioritised the Mini and then the ADO16 ahead of it. So, in 1958, instead of Issigonis’s take on the Citroen DS we got a determinedly conservative car with Pininfarina styling, albeit rather heavily done at first. 
The Minor, however, dated from 1948. This example is a 1960 car, showing almost all the developments embodied into the car – the A series OHV engine in lieu of the old Morris side valve, the enlarged windows and revised interior. 
This car is perhaps Britain’s best loved car, certainly Britain’s favourite family car since the war, ahead of the Cortina and Escort, Austin 1100 or even the Mini, which is often recalled as either being a family’s second car or as a first car. There are still many Minors is frequent use, as well as it being a favourite first or low cost classic car choice. 
The Minor is a significant landmark car for the British industry in many ways – the first car Issigonis masterminded completely, the first Morris that Lord Nuffield had to be persuaded to produce, the last compact Morris produced before the Austin merger that created BMC and the first British car to sell a million. Technically, the Minor has a strong to claim to being as innovative for 1948 as the ADO16 was for 1962, with a monocoque construction, independent suspension, light weight, good handling and ease of driving. It was certainly as large a step forward in compact car design as had been seen before or than we’ve seen since, and more than a match for the VW Beetle as car to drive or be driven in. The Golf, in 1948, if you wish. 
It was also the car that was the basis for the perhaps the best known small British van ever. 
One of which was parked just one Ford Focus’s length away. Curbside Classics indeed!
I’d take the Wolsley any day. 🙂
It would be interesting to see a designer’s take on an updated Morris Minor.
It was called the Marina and it was junk new.
My ex BIL had one with serious rust problems at 3 years old,at 5 it went to the scrapyard.There was a proper Herbert down my street who had a Starsky and Hutch Marina coupe.
This van with a Washington collector vehicle plate lives in Cannon Beach, Oregon.
It’s right-hand-drive.
I’ve also seen a Minor sedan in Florence, Oregon.
I love Morris Minors! If I lived in the UK, I’d have one…check that, I would be on 10 years of ownership or something like that, because I would have bought one long ago.
Hi, I m looking for Morris Oxford 1957 Series 3 Steering Wheel. Does anyone know where can I get it? please contact me at info@lentinplus.net. Thank you.
Nice finds. I shot a cute little Minor in nearby Junction City some years ago, but have never gotten around to a proper write-up of it. England’s most successful car of the whole post war era?
Very nice finds of two cars that, while different, are both so very very British! I like them both, but for different reasons.
I Love the Wolseley grille and that fantastic illuminated badge. But keeping the Minor for so many years (up to 1970!) is just another of BL’s endless list of Deathly Sins
They kept it in production because it sold cars like ADO16 were fraught with problems and while popular in the UK with their well paved roads and plenty of dealers to rectify the faults those things never gained the same popularity elsewhere plus Minor vans still sold to govt depts here FWD BMC cars were ignored due to very expensive running costs, but Minors just ran forever with basic maintenance.
Not an excuse. Not developing the ADO16 further and evolving into a worthy successor might be BL’s greatest and deadliest Deathly Sin. They could have out-Golfed the Golf!
Austin Ambassador a warmed up Princess hatch back stop gap til the Maestro came out must be BL’s Deadliest Sin.
I disagree. BL was already dead by then. Not giving the Princess a hatchback is more of a DS in my opinion.
Thanks Roger for another great read and more cars from when I was a kid.My Chemistry teacher who was also a lay preacher had a pale blue and white Wolsley like this. CC effect strikes again as I’ve just been watching Open all Hours and Nurse Gladys drives a minor.The Morris Minor had a very long run but it’s replacement was something horrible,the Marina.
The Minor is an icon in the UK. They never felt the love for the Beetle to same extent as North American. The Minor was in a sense there Beetle – an icon not easily replaced.
There are a few Farinas that show in Canada every once and a while. They are generally a bit unloved. Sort of a generic British saloon whose values don’t allow for restoration.
Britain had a chance to take the Beetle and make it at home after the war.Of course no one would want to have a car with the engine in the rear!
We took the DKW 125 motorcycle instead( as did Harley Davidson,Yamaha and many more) and made it as the BSA Bantam
It is worth pointing out that when the Brits rejected the Beetle it was incredibly spartan, to the point of having only one headlight, no chrome at all, barely a rear window etc. It changed quite a bit (well by Beetle standards!) before going on sale as a commercial product.
It is hard to understate the affection for the Minor, probably the equivalent of the following of the most popular 48-68 Chevrolets in one car, with a cute/cheeful/loveable character given to them that a Chev doesn’t have. Obviously not everyone gets it or cares, but there are a lot of them in long-term ownership and active use.
Wrong ~ no Beetles ever had a single headlight .
The early 25 Hp. versions were underpowered and incredibly crude (mechanical ” push & pray ” brakes !) but they’d run circles around an early Morry and had heaters plus they didn’t leak water in the rain unlike early Morrys…..
-Nate
The Wolseley broaches an awkward question: How does one pronounce 16/60? Simply as “Sixteen Sixty”? This is something I’ve found myself wondering about various British cars whose designations are written that way (which I assume is the old RAC taxable horsepower rating followed by the nominal developed output).
Hi,
I say sixteen, sixty, but it probably depends on whether you went to the right school ;-0
I think the 16 was 1.6 litres, the 60 the bhp. Likewise the 15/50 and 18/85 Landcrab
Yeah sixteen sixty that naming proccess has been around since the year dot a friend of mine has just sold his 1927 14/4 Humber fourteen rac hp four cylinders Actually I must get some shots of that it has some unusual features like vacuum headlight dipping, its a basket case but a complete car.
I think the naming depended on the brand. Names like “Eight” and “Ten” referred to the RAC rating and were a general indicator of size/class used industry-wide into the 1950s. The Wolseley 16/60 is the displacement (1600 cc) and nominal horsepower. With the Riley 4/72 and Austin 6/110, it’s cylinders and nominal horsepower.
Thanks — clearly, I am not with the math this afternoon, since I do actually know how to calculate RAC horsepower ratings and obviously didn’t…
Unless you lived in Australia! Our BMC stuck two extra cylinders on the 1622cc B-series four to make a 2433cc B-series six, and stuck it in the Wolseley 24/80 and the short-lived Austin Freeway. No Morris equivalent, as big Morrises didn’t sell here.
Performance-wise they weren’t notable, but the Wolseley interior was quite impressive to me as a kid. Very comfy when sitting in the back and heading off for a day’s fishing, but rather dark and cramped compared to Dad’s ’62 Falcon which the Freeway sold against (in BMC’s dreams!). The Wolseley gained a mark II version with the smaller fins and soldiered on until 1966. The 24/80 looked just like the 16/60 except for a different badge and a little “Wolseley Six” badge on the front wing (must use the correct British terminology!). The Austin did get a new grille – at least it looked different!
The Austin Freeway in the Birdwood National Motor Museum – easy to pick the XF Falcon accessible taxi next to it (like a stretch limousine with a raised roof and a giant door in the side), and the Cortina station wagon behind it.
I was recently looking through photos from my last visit with a view to doing a post on unusual Australian cars for our international audience.
Morry Thous still abound in NZ they are everywhere in daily use a much better car than the VW on the road and in the reliability stakes, The vans were very popular as delivery runabouts and could still be bought new in the mid 70s when production finally ended it was also badged as an Austin recieving the crinkle grille and steering wheel badge to distinguish it from the Morris examples only in van and pickup though
I passed my driving test in a Morry thou as did many other Kiwis and remember driving them too fast sideways on the local backroads they were fun little cars with great handling.
Morris minors are great for learning how to power oversteer, skinny tires and light rear-end.
Absolutely spot-on with that……..
Not all Minors are in such good nick…. But this one still runs happily. Great little cars.
And here’s the front view. Love it.
This one’s worse. I think the owner runs a nearby junk shop, as it’s parked in the same spot every time I pass through town. Unless it’s an “art installation”!
My brother had a side-valve Minor as a first car (850cc iirc). I didn’t like it. Horrible, slow, noisy little thing with a grumpy gutless little motor. Of course, being a true cc tragic, my experience with that car doesn’t stop me dreaming occasionally about owning a Minor 1000 Traveller (with the wooden framing at the back).
My first car was a 1964 Morris Oxford with “four-on-the-floor”. Like the Wolseley pictured mine had the rear tail fins angling down rather than up as on the earlier cars. The Oxford was the best looking of the BMC Farinas in my opinion. I loved that car. I had it for years and only sold it when I emigrated. It was easy to work on and never let me down. I replaced the head with a later one that didn’t have the “hot-spot” that was prone to cracking.
When I bought the car the seller said that the motor was a bit tired and would need the rings doing sometime before long. I never pushed the car and let it find its own pace humming along at a fair speed. I looked after it and it looked after me. I never did do the rings. The motor felt just as good when I sold it as when I bought it.
I called it the “brown bomber”. I had lots of fun in it. It also carried me through some tough times. I have fond memories of that car.
The Farinas – in various forms – were quite numerous in Australia, notably the Austin Freeway and Wolsley versions. There were also a few of the top-of-the-line Vanden Plas with the Rolls Royce six in them to be seen, but its been quote a few years since one of those has been spotted. As a general rule, all British cars were underpowered and most were unreliable, here in Australia anyway, due to more extreme weather and harsher roads. What I could never understand however was how many British cars had water ingress problems. Mini’s and Minors were famous for stopping when it rained (water in distributor) and I dont think the UK ever built any roadster that did not leak. I could never understand how these cars could be so badly weather sealed when they came from a country where it rains so often! By the 1960’s most British cars had a terrible reputation for poor quality and unreliability in Australia and that is what killed them off in this market. I have told elsewhere in this forum of my experiences with an XJS-HE in the 1980’s and I still get annoyed if I think of all the dramas that car subjected me to!
Don’t forget the arrogant attitude of the British car companies for a long time too. There seemed to be an idea that you could foist any old rubbish on the ‘colonials’ and they wouldn’t know the difference.
Then the Japanese entered our market in the early sixties and spent time and money finding out what locals wanted and then fixed it.
Ten years later the British industry was effectively dead here.
I don’t know that it was arrogance so much as a genuine lack of understanding of what the export markets needed and why – at first. But then there was a lot of back-room political infighting once Austin and Morris merged (or was it the Austin takeover of Morris?). And as for trying to rationalise the model range – the dealers wouldn’t let them! I think that took management’s eye off the product and the competition.
But BMC Australia was relatively clear-sighted. They dropped the Minor and gave us the extremely popular Morris Major. Basically a de-contented and facelifted Wolseley 1500 at first, later with a wheelbase stretch and a reskin it held the fort quite well until the 1100 was released here. I mentioned the 24/80 and Freeway above; “our” BMC wanted to widen the bodies too, but head office wouldn’t let them. Either way, the finny Farina styling was dated by their 1962 introduction.
In the sixties BMC’s cars were quite popular, almost your “default” small car, but once the Japanese arrived, and people found they could buy a reliable, quality, better-equipped car for the same or less, BMC’s days were doomed – no matter what they had to sell.
You’ve summed it up well.
Hmm. Being British myself I think the British companies WERE arrogant. The war is a major factor. Britain had won the war and our big companies were sitting pretty. Meanwhile the Germans and Japanese were economically devastated- they needed to make some money fast to give themselves decent living standards- and their pride. Like in most things in life, the people under pressure had to give their all and came out with far superior products as a result. This was true of all industries but none more obviously than cars; that’s why Germany has a huge, respected car industry, Japan has a huge, respected car industry, and Britain is grateful for the factory Nissan opened in Sunderland. Having said that, the British motor industry is beginning to grow again.
Liked Morris. Had an MGB which constantly needed electrical work but liked it anyway. Probably as much the fault of the mechanic as the car. A warrant officer on my base had a minor of indeterminate year. Always admired it and he said he approached 40mpg in an area full of stop and go driving. Had less trouble than the 61 beetle I had at the time. Always liked the front engine rwd.
SWEET ! .
Thanx for this , I’m up to my eyebrows bringing a 1961 Morris Minor two door back to road worthy .
Fun little cars , I can’t imagine it ever being as good as a properly cared for old VW Beetle but I’ll soon find out .
-Nate
Does this Minor have significantly larger wheels than stock? It must, if you compare it to the Wolseley behind it…
No ;
Morrys came with 5.20 X 14 ” wheels & tires so they look very tall .
-Nate
The wheels look the right size, but the tyres look to be a lower profile – radials, perhaps? The over-patinated one I showed above has crossplies, and looks like how I remember them.
I am happy to report that the CC Effect is humming along at peak efficiency. What did I see sitting outside a repair shop in Indianapolis yesterday but a Morris Minor. This CC Effect is some freaky stuff.