Morris Oxford

Seven cars have carried the Oxford badge and three of them are commercially live. Bullnose (1913–1926) and Flatnose (1926–1935) are separate-chassis pre-war cars. Series MO, 1948–1954, is the first unitary Oxford — Issigonis, 1476cc side-valve, torsion-bar front, hydraulic 8in drums all round, rack and pinion. Series II, III and IV, 1954–1960, are the B-series cars — 1489cc overhead-valve, still torsion bar, 9in drums. Series V and VI, 1959–1971, are the Pininfarina cars — coil springs and wishbones, cam-and-lever steering, 1489cc then 1622cc.

Breakpoint one is 1954, and nothing crosses it. The MO’s 1476cc is a side-valve unit; the Series II’s 1489cc is the Austin-designed overhead-valve B-series. Not head gaskets, not the water pump, not the manifolds. Brakes step up from 8in to 9in drums at the same moment. Two engines of almost identical capacity, sharing nothing.

Breakpoint two is 1959, and it is the front end of the car. The MO, Series II, III and IV all use longitudinal torsion-bar independent front suspension, the same principle as the Morris Minor. The Farina Series V switched to coil springs and wishbones with the lever-arm damper acting as the upper arm. Steering changed too: the MO had rack and pinion, the Series V is cam and lever. Front suspension and steering parts do not cross 1959.

Breakpoint three is October 1961, and it is gentler than it looks. Series V becomes Series VI: engine 1489 to 1622cc, wheelbase slightly longer, both tracks wider, anti-roll bars added front and rear, and the rear fins reshaped with new light clusters. But the body shell is the same pressing, so most glass and body rubber carries across. Suspension, axle and running gear do not.

Two things that are simply not true about this car. “Series IV is the fourth saloon.” It is not — Series IV is an estate only, 1957–1960, the all-steel Traveller that replaced the ash-framed Series III woody. There is no Series IV saloon, and anyone shopping “Series IV” for saloon parts is on the wrong car. And “the Farina Oxfords got discs eventually.” They did not. Nine-inch drums front and rear for the whole 1959–1971 run, on the Morris, the Austin and all three upmarket badges — Girling, hydraulic, two-leading-shoe fronts. The Farinas with discs are the six-cylinder cars: the Austin A99 and A110 and the Wolseley 6/99 and 6/110, with Lockheed front discs. MGB front discs are the usual retrofit on a four-cylinder car.

Watch for the Cowley, which is the trap in this family. The Cowley 1200 (1954–1959, 17,413 built) looks like an Oxford Series II and shares the shell, the torsion-bar front and the live rear axle — but it has a 1.2-litre B-series and, on early cars, 8in drums where the Oxford has 9in. The Cowley 1500 (1956–1958, 4,623 built) has the 1489cc and Series III styling. Always confirm capacity before selling Oxford brake or engine parts to a Cowley owner. And the Cowley MCV (1950–1956) is the commercial version of the MO — van, pick-up and chassis-cab, 10cwt, side-valve.

The estate is a separate stock line. The 1957 change from the ash-framed Series III woody to the all-steel unitary Series IV is the largest single body-rubber break in the Oxford line — every piece of rear body rubber, glass surround and trim changes. And the Farina estates have their own fixed side window seal with no saloon equivalent. Water leaks at the front and rear screens are the named interior-killer on the Farina cars, sitting right above the A-post and bulkhead rust traps. That is exactly the job we stock for.