Iconic Morris van returns
Legendary British brand Morris Commercials is making a comeback with an all-new all-electric version of an icon, writes
Fans of classic British vans rejoice – the Morris J-type is making a comeback. And it is planned as being the first in an onslaught of revived Morris commercial vehicles.
Having secured the rights to the Morris Commercial brand name, a United Kingdom-based automotive engineering and manufacturing start-up is reviving the much-loved British brand as a series of allelectric vehicles, leading with the introduction of the new Morris JE that it has just revealed the first teaser photos of.
Packing a lithium-ion battery powertrain, Morris Commercials says the new JE is designed as ‘‘a premium product with sensational styling, excellent functionality and a practical driving range for business and pleasure’’.
A commercial van that is also a ‘‘premium product’’?
Apparently so. The JE will sit on a lightweight, modular chassis – making it highly adaptable for future derivatives – with a body made entirely from carbon fibre, with the company saying it will be one of the lightest LCVs in the marketplace, giving it ‘‘outstanding power-toweight efficiency which fully maximises the range of the vehicle’’.
While not stating a specific range at this stage, the company has previously said it was expecting a range of around 200 kilometres.
First introduced in 1948 at Earls Court, London, the original Morris J-type van was the archetypal ‘‘big’’ little van, featuring charming styling with a ground-breaking load capacity-to-footprint ratio – an achievement that Morris Commercial claims remains unsurpassed by any light commercial vehicle.
Aside from its practicality, the J-type was popular as a promotional vehicle thanks to its distinctive styling and examples were often seen in distinctive colour schemes and company liveries.
The J-type was exported to more than 22 countries around the world, with New Zealand and Australia being two of the biggest export markets – Australia’s NRMA (the equivalent of our AA) used a huge fleet of J-types – and many are still in use as quirky retro food and icecream vans, or promotional vehicles today.
Morris Commercials says that the new JE ‘‘takes the essence of the original, iconic design, and reimagines it as an all-new, sustainable vehicle for the 21st century’’.
The company stresses that the new vehicle is not a replica of a 70-year-old design, but it takes the DNA and values of the original van and brings it up to date in a ‘‘fun, funky and contemporary design’’.
The project, which the company says has been led by a highly experienced team of established automotive designers and engineers, has been a well-kept secret during the development phase, which has now resulted in a fully operational engineering prototype.
‘‘I am so pleased to reach this stage after over two years of intense development,’’ said Dr Qu Li, the chief executive and founder of Morris Commercial.
‘‘It’s been a fantastic journey and I am extremely proud of what the whole Morris Commercial team and its incredible suppliers have achieved.
‘‘The working engineering prototype has undergone extensive road testing and the end of 2019 is an amazing conclusion to the first phase of the project.
‘‘We still have a little way to go to bring the project to full production, but we have the team and the product to make this an enormous success.’’
If you were hoping this may mean a reborn all-electric Morris Minor, however, prepare for disappointment – Morris Commercial was a separate company from Morris Motors, with the latter now owned by Chinese manufacturer SAIC Motor.