Morris Oxford History

The Morris Oxford launched Morris as a car maker: the first 'Bullnose' Oxford — named for its distinctive rounded radiator — was built at Cowley in March 1913, and 393 cars were sold by the end of that first year. Light, simple and assembled largely from bought-in proprietary components, it gave William Morris a profitable formula that he scaled aggressively through the 1920s, helping Morris account for a large share of British car production by the middle of that decade.

The Bullnose Oxford ran to 1926, after which the rounded radiator gave way to the 'Flatnose' cars. After the Second World War the name was revived on an entirely new monocoque car, the Series MO (1948–1954) designed alongside the Morris Minor, then the B-Series-engined Series II/III, before the Oxford was absorbed into BMC's mid-size Pininfarina-styled 'Farina' range as the Oxford V and VI.

The final Morris Oxford, the Farina-bodied Series VI, ended production in 1971. The post-war Oxford's tooling had a long afterlife abroad: a closely related design became the basis of India's Hindustan Ambassador, which stayed in production for decades.