From The Classifieds: 1966 Morris 1100

From The Classifieds: 1966 Morris 1100

It's a rare sight on Australian roads today, but the 1960s Morris 1100 in its heyday was the equivalent of today's ubiquitous Toyota Corolla in that it was the biggest-selling car in its category.

Unlike the Corolla though, the low-slung, four-door Morris was a trailbreaker. It was a development of Alex Issigonis's transverse-engined front-drive concept pioneered in the Morris Mini and made ridiculously good use of what were really quite compact dimensions.

Lined up against the other small cars it was competing with, the Morris 1100 was remarkably advanced.

In addition to its distinctive styling and outstanding interior space it also featured such things as an almost French-style independent "Hydrolastic" suspension system in which front and rear hydraulic spring elements were interconnected to direct pressure between front and rear ends to help eliminate fore-aft "pitching." The ride quality was exceptional for a volume-selling small car.

I was once taken on a test drive by an enthusiastic salesman who drove a demo 1100 at speed with two wheels off the bitumen and two on a rough, undulating dirt verge to demonstrate how effectively the Hydrolastic system swallowed bumps and eliminated fore-aft pitch. As the then owner of an original Mini Cooper complete with Issigonis rubber-cone suspension, I was impressed.

The 1100 distinguished itself from many small cars with its front and rear bench seats that suggested it was a step up to something bigger. The seats themselves were plush and comfortable within their limitations and the amount of leg and headroom was exceptionally generous.

Remember this was a time when the small car segment comprised the likes of not just the original Volkswagen beetle, Ford Cortina, Fiat 1100 and Vauxhall Viva, but also early Japanese imports such as the Toyota Corona, Isuzu Bellett, Mitsubishi Colt and Datsun Bluebird.

The Morris 1100 followed the conventionally engineered Morris Major and was introduced to Australia in February 1964. It was built at the British Motor Company's (later British Leyland) factory in Zetland in Sydney, where it joined the mighty mini and its various derivatives.

The following year it was named as Wheels magazine's car of the year and by 1966 had moved to top of its class in terms of sales, out-pacing the likes of Ford's Cortina, the Volkswagen beetle and even its own mini sibling. BMC's advertising campaign flaunted the fact that the 1100 was "Australia's most wanted family car."

In 1967 the 1100, despite the introduction of a 1275cc version (and an automatic in 1968), eventually succumbed to the likes of Ford's Cortina and Holden's Torana and was replaced in June 1969 by the largely Australian-engineered Morris 1500, complete with a new overhead camshaft 1.5-litre engine.

By this time the magic of the car had faded amid transmission and other issues and the 1500 was discontinued in 1972. It was replaced by the ill-fated, conventionally engineered Morris Marina which owed much of its chassis design principles to earlier Morris Minor/Major models and was available in four and six-cylinder versions.

Almost 90,000 Morris 1100s were built over the car's 5 ½-year production. Today, not a lot are to be found, with the survivors register listing 126 cars confirmed to be still in existence. There aren't that many early Toranas or Mark I Cortinas around either for that matter.

This white/red 1966 manual-transmission 1100, which is in the hands of its second owner, is a healthy example that has covered only 47,000 miles, during which time it has been garaged and regularly serviced.

The owner describes it as being in "terrific condition; interior upholstery and roof lining have no rips, tears or marks" while the exterior has a "good lustre with no rust.

With an asking price of $6000, the 1100 lives at Hurlstone Park in Sydney's west and will be sold with a roadworthy certificate.

A significant, relatively recent but largely forgotten part of Australian automotive history.