Morris Major Series II Road Test

"The Major Grows Up"

(From the Australian magazine WHEELS, September 1959)

Frontal appearance of the Major has changed greatly, although huge winker/parking lights make the car almost a four-lighter. Overriders are not standard, but to increase ground clearance bumper has numberplate recess. We think the bonnet needs a mascot.

This is de-ditching year for the British Motor Corporation. And to haul the company out of the financial abyss into which it toppled after the completion of the £13 million Sydney plant, there are a series of new models scheduled for this year.

The first of these is the Morris Major which, besides being a vast improvement on the previous model, is the most Australian car ever to come off a production line. The locally found content is 98 per cent. Eventually this will rise to 100 per cent.

Our test drive of one of the first production models convinced us that Australian engineering know-how and materials can produce a car equal to any fully imported machine.

Having learnt the hard and expensive way that the Australian public demands reasonable head and leg room, the BMC have profited from past mistakes and come up with an intensely practical and conventional machine, one of the best features of which is the under £1,000 price tag. Without doubt this car is the most serious challenge to European dominance in the small car field so far devised, and for my money is really good value.

Power unit is the long established and well tried B-series engine of 1489cc with pushrod overhead valves and turning out 50 bhp at 4,200 rpm. Gearbox is the same as before, but the rear axle has been lowered to 4.22 from 3.73. This gives 16.44mph per thousand revs instead of 18.5 mph per thousand in top.

All the good mechanical features of the previous Major have been retained, such as torsion bar front suspension, rack and pinion steering, floor gear change and hand brake.

Although the general construction is very much the same as before the wheelbase has been lengthened by six inches and the body has been made nine inches longer to provide the urgently needed increased passenger space.

The new Major is nine inches longer - some of those extra inches have been taken up in enlarging the boot. Tail fins are new and the bumpers wrap around for additional protection.

However, a side effect of the enlargements has been to add another hundredweight to the car. Because of this the rear axle ratio was lowered so as not to reduce acceleration in the lower ranges and to provide flexibility.

Practically everything has come in for a change in the Major II, including the luggage boot, which is two and a half cubic feet bigger than before. The petrol tank has been expanded to carry nine gallons instead of seven. The tank has a steel shield to protect it from damage on rough roads and the engine oil sump is lower for the same reason.

The chassis platform has been braced and the front suspension beefed up with bigger shockers. Wider tyres (5.20 x 14) are also new and no doubt designed to make the car more useful on rough outback roads.

In appearance the Major looks a great deal bigger than the Series I and one is immediately aware of increased length and rather finny tail treatment. All the doors are hinged from their leading edges and the boot lid has a torsion bar hinge.

The frontal aspect of the Major has not changed greatly, although a pair or enormous tinted parking-winking lights rather dominate the appearance and give the car a vertical four-light effect.

The bonnet is quite plain and I think some form of decoration would help the looks.

Over-riders are not standard equipment, although the bumpers wrap around and offer good side protection from the drive-by-feel merchants.

A point of interest: BMC engineers went to England and made initial developments on the car, which was tested on the MIRA track and later on a military proving ground. Three prototypes were then shipped to Australia and tested for tens of thousands of miles on outback roads.

Our drive of the car, which had done only a few miles, was necessarily short, but we left with some favourable impressions of the Major. Interior appointments were quite satisfactory and the finish good. In the driver's high position visibilty is good and, to aid parking, the rear fins are visible. The stout handbrake between the door and seat has a very good action and is obviously capable of halting the car with ease. Although a bench seat has been fitted the gear change retains its central floor position and for greater convenience is cranked. Nevertheless, I found it was necessary to lean forward slightly to get at it.

The ratios themselves are very well chosen and the synchromesh is smooth and fast. Even with the stiff engine I found the Major loping up to 30 mph in second and obviously willing to charge ahead to more than 55 mph in third. Clutch action is delightfully smooth and makes for silky motoring without the aid of automatic transmission.

A new steering wheel has been fitted to the Major. It is dished, but the steeply raked steering column gives a rather upright driving position which may not suit all tastes. According to BMC engineers the rack and pinion steering has been modified to reduce road shock, which accounts for some of the lack of feel, uncommon with this type of guiding arrangement. Apart from this, the steering is light and very accurate.

The horn button on the hub of the wheel is hard to reach in a hurry and I think a horn ring would be a considerable advantage.

In spite of current tendencies by manufacturers to reduce the number of instruments in cars the Major has close to a full house. The large dial which matches the black faced speedo, has gauges for oil pressure, water temperature and fuel contents. Both dials are in a plastic cowling directly in front of the driver, while the control knobs are on the bottom of the dash on both sides of the steering column. The trafficators are self-cancelling now.

Frankly, I don't approve of the new front seating arrangements. The advantages of having a bench front seat in a car which will only carry five people seems doubtful, specially as the seat lacks support for big people. Two big buckets would be much better.

Three normal size people can sit in the back with leg, elbow and head room. Even six-plus footers are not cramped. The old Major's chief bugbear has been done away with.

Because of extra weight and lower gearing the Major loses on fuel consumption, which is now between 30 and 25 mpg. Before it was 35 to 40 mpg.

Personally, I think the Major II is a highly satisfactory car and it is certainly an awful lot of auto for a shade less than £1,000. In fact this is just about the biggest and more powerful car available for less than four figures.