1100/1300 Range

The Morris 1100 took the original Mini design concept another stage further, it made its debut in 1962, one year before the near identical Austin version. The 1100 had an all new body shell with a transverse mounted 1098cc A-series engine driving the front wheels (as in the Mini). The suspension made use of Alex Moulton's Hydralastic design also used on the Mini and BMC 1800 range.

In 1967 BMC launched the additional 1300 models at the same time as it announced the 1100 Mk II. The 1300 offered better performance which came from the 1275cc A-series engine (a detuned Mini Cooper unit) and an all synchromesh gearbox.

The 1100/1300 range quickly became Britains No1 seller and was soon developed into "badge engineered" variants for other BMC marques including MG/Vanden Plas/Wolseley and Riley. All of these 1100/1300 variants featured their own unique trim and grilles. Some had improved performance to reflect their own "brand values".