UK trucks from WW2. Morris Commercial C4. Four cylinders, 3.5 L, 70 HP, 80 km/h
Morris Commercial Cars Limited was a British manufacturer of commercial vehicles formed by William Morris, founder of Morris Motors Limited, to continue the business of E G Wrigley and Company which he purchased as of 1 January 1924.
The marque was re-launched in 2017 when a proposal for all-new electric J-Type was announced, which was unveiled in November 2019.
Morris bought the assets of Soho, Birmingham axle manufacturer E.G. Wrigley and Company after it was placed in liquidation late in 1923. Up until that point a small number of commercial vehicle variants of Morris cars were built at the Morris plant at Cowley, but with the newly acquired plant in Foundry Lane, Soho, Birmingham serious production began.
In 1932 the business was moved a few miles across Birmingham to the former Wolseley factory in Adderley Park. As a response to success of the American-owned Ford and Bedford truck brands, in 1934 and 1935 the radiator badge incorporated the text “British to the Backbone”. This somewhat jingoist design remained in use until the end of the war.
In 1936 Morris sold the company into his Morris Motors Limited. The use of the Morris Commercial brand name continued until 1968 when British Motor Holdings, by then the parent of Austin as well as Morris, merged with the Leyland Motor Corporation to form the British Leyland Motor Corporation.
In wartime commercial vehicles in the Morris range were produced for military use – such as the Morris C8 field artillery tractor (FAT) and Morris CS8 15 cwt truck. Morris Commercial also built vehicles such as the Terrapin amphibious carrier while Nuffield Mechanisations also built a number of armored vehicles.
During the 1960s the light trucks and forward-control J4 light vans produced by Austin and Morris commercial were identical.
The light trucks in the 1960s included the FF, a forward-control design introduced in 1958, along with the WF which was a sibling vehicle with the driver placed behind the engine rather than on top of it. The updated version of the FF, the FJ, appeared in 1964; it featured a split-circuit braking system, a novelty in this class of vehicle. The FF remained in production and the two vehicles were offered side by side: in this class the British Motor Corporation (BMC) trucks were nevertheless out-competed in terms of domestic market sales volumes by Bedford and Ford (with their Thames).
Austin/Morris commercial vehicles in the 1960s also included the Austin/Morris FG-series an unusual-looking urban delivery truck with driver doors set at an angle at the rear corners of the cab to permit access in confined spaces.
E G Wrigley & Co Limited was a British tool maker, car component, and mechanical parts manufacturer, located at Foundry Lane, Soho, Birmingham active from 1897 to 1923.
Edward Greenwood Wrigley established a tool making business at 232 Aston Road, Birmingham in 1898. He expanded in 1902 by moving some operations to Foundry Lane, Soho, Birmingham. They manufactured high-speed twist drills and made a specialty of milling cutters, taper and adjustable reamers and gear cutters.
Victory museum, Moscow.
