Description
This very popular model was inspired by the success Ford were having with their small family saloon, the Model Y. Introduced at the 1934 Earls Court Motor Show, the Morris Eight, with its hydraulic brakes, and synchromesh gears on 2nd and 3rd was quite an advanced car for the time. Powered by Morris's 918cc side valve engine delivering 23. 5bh, it was an immediate sales success, with over 50, 000 produced in the first nine months of production.
Here was an advanced and reliable small car, affordable for many families. The basic 2 seat model cost just £118. Both saloons and tourers were produced.
This beautifully restored Series one example has a most unusual history. We have a copy of the old buff log book with entries from 1972 showing a date of first registration on April 27th 1936. At that time the Morris was registered as an ‘Estate' and an old photocopy photograph clearly shows the car with a 'Woody' style estate car body.
There are lots of invoices and details relating to restoration of that body in the early 1990s. We can find no record of coach built estate car bodies built by Morris on this chassis, though during the Second World War, many saloons were converted to vans and estates to create 'utility' vehicles which made a petrol ration possible. In the file is a £6, 000 estimate dated December 2007 for the fabrication of a timber frame for a new Tourer body based on the owner supplying his own timber- seasoned ash which came with the car. The result is a beautiful 4-seat tourer with the liveliest engine we've come across on this model. It has superb oil pressure, good working gearbox synchros and is very clearly the subject of a comprehensive rebuild. Carpets, trims, weather gear are all excellent. Thankfully, it retains its very valuable original KG number plate. The recorded milage cannot be verified but looking at the condition of the car overall, the 1436 miles showing may well be the mileage covered since restoration.
This is a delightful example and is undoubtedly the best value Morris Eight Tourer we've had in more than a decade.
