A very Minor affair

I was remembering the Morris Minor.


This cuddly-looking car was designed by Alec Issigonis, the maestro who later designed the more famous Mini, and first went on sale in 1948.


As well as 2- and 4-door saloons, a rather swish-looking convertible was part of the range:


And so was an estate version, known as the "Traveller", which sported rather fetching wood framing (traditional in early designs of English car which were intended for use as shooting brakes):


I think the 2-door saloon is rather elegant:


But Morris didn't stop there. They also launched a Morris Minor pick-up truck:


And then there was a van, too (incidentally, I love the 1950s colours in the cars in this post):


It's difficult to think of any modern range of vehicles which is quite so versatile. All these designs were built around a standard engine -- a tiny c.1000cc job (a little less in the earlier versions, a little more in the later ones):


The engine was physically tiny, too, here dwarfed by the capacious engine compartment. The fascia and controls were what may be described as rudimentary -- reflecting the extreme simplicity of these vehicles:


They were rugged things (I once drove 15 miles through a hideous storm in one, with only three functioning cylinders), but also surprisingly roomy (the later Mini was only adequate if you were dwarf-sized or smaller).


My very first car was one of these -- a 2nd (or probably 12th-hand) van in the same navy blue as this:


A modern version would only need a 700cc engine to provide the same power, but modern cars are, of course, vastly more sophisticated. Although unlikely to take kindly to being driven on 3 cylinders.


I had to include that final picture -- an export model in the Netherlands with a delightful NS train in the background.