1967 MORRIS 1100
SOMEHOW THIS BABY LAND CRAB HAS MANAGED TO STAY WITH THE SAME FAMILY FOR OVER HALF A CENTURY
We were living in a very different world back in 1967. England and Australia both had a Prime Minister called Harold – theirs was Wilson and ours was Holt, and the latter famously disappeared near the end of that year, while swimming in the sea off Cheviot Beach. This Morris 1100 rolled out of a Surrey (England) showroom in that year, with my wife’s mother holding the keys. It did 7000 miles over there before being shipped to Australia.
And here it’s been ever since. This and its larger 1800 sibling were remarkable for their day in maximising the limited space allowed by the modest body shell. They had incredibly roomy interiors, something you didn’t fully appreciate until you got aboard.
Like its smaller cousin the Mini, it used front-wheel-drive, and east-west engine layout, which helped cement the format for generations of compact cars to come. Though a very British car in
some respects, the body styling was in fact done by Pininfarina.
Back in the day,, Morris and BMC (British Motor Corporation) made much of the Hydrolastic suspension, which was advertised as ‘floating on fluid’. It used a combination of rubber springing and fluid under pressure to give a unique self-levelling effect to the ride.
Our example underwent a complete restoration nearly two decades ago. It was a complete strip back to the bare shell and included an engine freshen-up. All up it took two years and it still looks like new today!