Morris Van Insurance
William Morris, then a bicycle manufacturer, started the Morris Motor Company in 1913. The first vehicle Morris produced was the Bullnose Oxford, which, obviously, was produced by the companys Oxford factory. Over its first decade, the company grew in both size and stature. By 1924, Morris overtook American auto giant Ford to claim a 51% share in the British automobile market, a stately accomplishment by anyones standards. In a move destined to be remembered by history, Cecil Kimber who was the head of the Morris Sales Agency in Oxford started producing sportier models of the Morris automobile, cars that were named for the Morris Garage agency, better known as MGs.
Though this sportier model bearing the Morris name is probably one of the best known cars produced by Morris, the company expanded in the 1930s and 1940s by producing reliable family automobiles. Examples of these are the Morris Minor and the Morris Oxford, both of which were released in 1948. The Oxford carries the additional distinction of serving as the base design for the widely known Ambassador automobile, arguably Indias most storied state-produced automobile.
The 1950s saw a change for Morris, as it merged with Austin, a company which once served as its rival. The newly formed company was renamed the British Motor Corporation, and in 1968, the Morris brand was incorporated as part of British Leyland.
The Morris brand existed well into the 1980s, with the production of such passenger automobiles as the Morris Marina and its cousin, the Morris Ital. The last vehicle to bear the Morris brand name was a van whose design owes much to the old Austin Metro. However, the early 1980s also saw the Morris plant in Cowley used exclusively for the production of Rover and Austin vehicles. Now, MG Rover who own whats left of both the British Motor Corporation and British Leyland are owners of the Morris brand badge. The assembly plant in Cowley is now the property of BMW, and they use it for production of the new line of MINI automobiles. Currently the MG Rover brand is in receivership, and its future is decidedly uncertain.
