Why didn't the Morris sell well in the USA?

[mikec4193]

Hi Morris Minor folks

I am in the upstate New York part of the USA and I owned (back in 2021) a Morris Minor for about 6 months then sold it to rebuild an old race car (about 98% done with that now)...so now I am looking to purchase another Morris Minor again...it baffles my mind why these little cars did not sell well over here...they are as rare as hens teeth (as my dad would say) over here...

Volkswagens of that same era are all over the place compared to the Morris Minors...I have owned several air cooled VW's over the years too...

The Morris Minor that I had was such a cool little car...I had never seen some the designs elements that I had seen on the Morris Minor...to me honestly I think the VW was a cool car but the Morris seemed to be a little better built maybe...the front end design blew me away totally...but rack and pinion steering on an old car??...I thought that was something from the modern era only...

Was the marketing of the Morris not put in place correctly in the USA???...

I was talking to car guy at work on Saturday and I told him I was looking for another Morris Minor and he had no idea what I was even talking about...a lot of non car folks think the Morris is VW Beetle...

Just wondering if anyone has any insight...

Thanks in advance.

MikeC

[philthehill]

I would suggest that until petrol prices in the USA rose people were not interested in small cars.

[Chipper]

I think it was own to several factors:
a) America is a vast country, and most citizens wanted to buy their own country's cars, designed for their roads.
b) VW had vastly superior marketing and servicing centres everywhere, which greatly helped sales of the Beetle.
c) The Minor may have been considered as a bit of an oddball/quirky car there.
d) The original Minors had wheezy old sidevalve engines, then the tiny 803cc A-series engine and this didn't really improve until the introduction of the 948cc A-series versions, making them pretty hopeless on the highways.

This also applied to other BMC cars, such as the Mini, Austin 1300/America, etc.

[Edward1949]

really improve until the introduction of the 948cc A-series versions, making them pretty hopeless on the highways.

This also applied to other BMC cars, such as the Mini, Austin 1300/America, etc.

The Minor was excellent in so many ways, but was not the best for cruising long straight highways.

[Myrtles Man]

The Minor was excellent in so many ways, but was not the best for cruising long straight highways.

A fair point but I wonder then why the Americans took so wholeheartedly to the VW Beetle.

[geoberni]

I've heard that the VW Dealer network was much better, but a year or so ago I found this article which is quite revealing.

https://autorestorer.com/articles/speci ... _minor-821

[Edward1949]

The Minor was excellent in so many ways, but was not the best for cruising long straight highways.

A fair point but I wonder then why the Americans took so wholeheartedly to the VW Beetle.

The Beetle was designed for stress-free all-day cruising at near-maximum speed on autobahns. This was never the Minor's forte, the reason being that Britain had no similar roads when it was designed.

[jaekl]

Mike, many good points mentioned with being a small car a major reason. The other is sightings. In the cities that had good dealers, a significant number of British cars were sold with Minors being one of them. New England and the East Coast had a good number of dealers as well as the far West Coast. Then there was the lack of advertising. VW ran TV and magazine ads. BMC did not. Few people would drive across a state to buy a car they don't know about. For the record 1959 was by far the most sold (and made for USA market) but some not until 61. As for survivors, rust reduced most of the numbers and mechanically needed repairs did many more. By the Seventies, most of what remained have been saved in various state of repair. At this point you are more likely to find the cars for sale to have been rebuild to some level, but there are still some waiting for some love. You will need to be prepared to travel some distance and accept some without paperwork.

[Chief]

The Beetle was designed for stress-free all-day cruising at near-maximum speed on autobahns. This was never the Minor's forte, the reason being that Britain had no similar roads when it was designed.

That's why they went to Germany for their road tests I guess:

https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/98506

[mikec4193]

Hey Chief

I watched the video all the way thru. Loved seeing those old VW's...the splitty would be worth a boat load of cash with today's VW fans...my dad actually bought his first new car at the VW factory in Dec 1953...he talked often of the Autobahn highway.

I know my dad is rolling over in his grave with the thought of me wanting another British car...

He worked on cars for a hobby and always stayed away from the English stuff...something about the "Lucas is the prince of darkness" was a saying I remember.

I do recall my grandfather had a Austin of some sort back in the late 1940s when gas was being rationed over here in the states.

Thanks for all the replies.

MikeC

[moggiethouable]

For detail you could do worse than obtain a copy of the book "Morris Minor, the worlds supreme car" by Paul Skilleter.
There is an appendix to the rear of the book with seven pages dedicated to sales of the minor in the USA and Canada.
The VW gets a mention too, you will find lots of copies on ebay.

[Chief]

I always wanted a Beetle because of the Herbie films, however when the time came for a first car I looked at Beetles and online it said their engines were notorious for siezing up from rust and totally failing, and since I lived by the sea I reluctantly gave up on the idea.

Apparently Minor engines don't rust next to the sea, it's all the rest of the metal that does