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`A Momentous Eleventh-hour Decision.
`I wasn't very happy with the final version of the Morris Minor. So I went to the shop one evening and told the mechanics to cut it in half.' - Sir Alec Issigonis.
The Decision
All had gone well in transforming the prototype Mosquito into the pre-production minor. The new Morris had passed its statutory test (10,000 miles in 10 days with no failure) and all appeared to be in order for full production - most of the tooling for the body shell had been made and the front and rear bumper blades had already been manufactured in large quantities. Unfortunately for the production staff, Issigonis decided that he wasn't happy with the proportions of the car and had it cut in half. The parts were then moved apart until the proportions were right - at 4 inches.The Alteration
This change required a 4 inch flat strip to be inserted through the centre of the car. Altering the curvature of the panels would have required expensive retooling, whilest the flat strip was an inexpensive and simple solution. The visible effect of the changes gave us the swage through the centre of the bonnet - not seen in the Mosquito prototypes and in early production MM series Morris Minors the bumper was a two piece affair with a 4 inch steel fillet separating the two bumper halves. The swage remained, but the bumper fillet was replaced once the original supplies ran out.
Interestingly, there was no comment from the Motoring Press about the rather obvious bumper fillet during the launch of the Morris Minor.
The Results
The widening of the Morris Minor not only gave vital interior space but also importantly improved the stability of the car and satisfied the designer.
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All text and some images are © Kris Bubendorfer 1996, and the text may be freely copied and republished in any form on the condition the source is acknowledged.