Morris Oxford Bullnose

Morris Oxford Bullnose at a glance

Development and production history

William R. Morris named the car after Oxford, the city where he grew up. It was announced in The Autocar in October 1912, and production began in March 1913. The first cars had a 1,018 cc four-cylinder side-valve engine from White & Poppe with a Bosch magneto, a three-speed gearbox from the same supplier and a worm-driven rear axle. Bodies were made by Raworth of Oxford.

In April 1915 Morris showed the press a larger, American-engined version, the Continental Cowley, with a 1,495 cc engine about 50% larger than the Oxford's, and longer, wider and better equipped. After the war the roles changed. From August 1919 the Cowley became a cheaper, simpler two-seater.

The 1919 Oxford took on the larger, stronger build of the Cowley, with a 1,548 cc engine built under licence in Coventry by a British branch of Hotchkiss and given a fiscal rating of 11.9. From January 1923 a 1,802 cc engine with a fiscal rating of 13.9 was optional, giving the 14/28, and it became standard in September 1924. Morris bought the Hotchkiss factory in May 1923 and renamed it Morris Engines.

Production grew slowly through the war years and then very fast. Morris built 393 cars in 1913, 1,932 in 1920 and 6,937 in 1922; in 1923 output jumped to 20,024, in 1924 to 32,939 and in 1925 to 54,151.

Design and engineering

The first Oxford was a light car: the standard two-seater weighed 558 kg and the de luxe 635 kg. English Wikipedia gives wheelbases of 126 in and 132 in for these 1913 cars in its table, but other figures in the same article differ, so they are not used here. The post-war car was considerably heavier: an open four-seat tourer weighed 851 kg in 1921 and 1,067 kg in 1925.

From 1919 the Oxford used a two-plate cork-lined clutch, a three-speed gearbox with reverse and a three-quarter floating spiral-bevel rear axle. Bodies were now built by Carbodies of Coventry. Front-wheel brakes were shown as a £10 option (1924) at the October 1924 Olympia show.

Engines and drivetrain

These were fiscal (tax) ratings; brake power was quoted separately. For the 14/28, Morris claimed about 22 kW (30 bhp) at the October 1924 Olympia show, and 25 kW (34 bhp) was reported for the 1925 show car. The Times found that a 1914 car reached just under 50 mph (80 km/h) on level ground, and a 1921 car about 45 mph (72 km/h). Our power converter translates bhp into kW.

Morris Oxford Bullnose specifications

Bodies and the first MG

In 1913 the Oxford was offered as an open two-seater in standard and de luxe versions, as a coupé cabriolet, a limousine, a commercial van and a sporting model. The 1919–1926 range included an open two-seater, an open four-seat tourer, a coupé, a cabriolet (from 1923), a saloon (from 1924), a landaulet, a three-quarter coupé and, from 1926, a saloon landaulet.

The most famous descendant of the Bullnose is a sports car. The 1925 Oxford chassis was the basis of the first MG, the 14/28 Super Sports. The MG story that followed is told in our history of MG cars.

Variants and derivatives

The split between Oxford and Cowley explains much of the Bullnose story. Before the war the Cowley was the bigger and better-equipped car. After August 1919 Morris reversed the roles and used the Cowley name for the cheaper model, while the Oxford became the larger car with more equipment. The same basic design thus served two price levels. The post-war range also added closed and convertible bodies step by step: a cabriolet from 1923, a saloon from 1924 and a saloon landaulet from 1926.

The Bullnose in numbers

The table shows that the Bullnose was above all a car of the mid-1920s. The three years 1924–1926 account for 119,273 cars, or about 77% of the total, and 1925 alone for 35%. Before the war Morris built only 1,620 cars in 1913–1915. At the same time the car became heavier: the open four-seater grew from 851 kg in 1921 to 1,067 kg in 1925, an increase of about 25%. The 1.8-litre engine increased displacement by about 16% over the 1.5-litre unit.

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