1/76 Scale Morris Minor Series II Traveller Diecast Model Car

• diecast and pre-painted, ready to display
• material: metal
• scale: 1/76
• size: 5*2*2 cm

The Morris Minor is an economy car produced by British marque Morris Motors between 1948 and 1971. It made its debut at the Earls Court Motor Show, London, in October 1948. Designed under the leadership of Alec Issigonis, more than 1.6 million were manufactured in three series: the Series MM (1948 to 1953), the Series II (1952 to 1956), and the 1000 series (1956 to 1971).

Initially available as a two-door saloon and tourer (convertible), the range was expanded to include a four-door saloon from September 1950. An estate car with a wooden frame (the Traveller) was produced from October 1953 and panel van and pick-up truck variants from May 1953. It was the first British car to sell over a million units, and is considered a classic example of automotive design, as well as typifying "Englishness".

Although Morris launched a new model with a similar name and a similar market positioning, the Morris Mini in 1959, the Minor remained in production for more than a decade after that, and in early 2020, its 23-year production run was counted as the twenty-eighth most long-lived single generation car in history by Autocar magazine, who called it: "... a primary way Britain got back on the road after the Second World War."

In 1952, the Minor was substantially re-engineered following the merger of the Nuffield Organization (Morris's parent company) with the Austin Motor Company to form the British Motor Corporation. As part of a rationalisation programme to reduce the production of duplicate components for similar vehicles, the Minor drivetrain was completely replaced with an Austin-derived engine, gearbox, propshaft, differential and axle casing. The more modern Austin-designed 803 cc (49.0 cu in) overhead valve A-series engine, which had been designed for the Minor's main rival, the Austin A30, was smaller in all dimensions, but nevertheless gave noticeable performance improvements over the pre-war side-valve 918 cc (56.0 cu in) Morris unit it replaced. The 52 second drive to 60 mph (97 km/h) was still calm, but top speed increased to 63 mph (101 km/h). Fuel consumption also rose to 36 miles per imperial gallon (7.8 L/100 km; 30 mpg US).

An estate version was introduced in 1952, known as the Traveller (a Morris naming tradition for estates, also seen on the Mini). The Traveller featured an external structural ash (wood) frame for the rear bodywork, with two side-hinged rear doors. The frame was varnished rather than painted and a highly visible feature of the body style. Travellers were built alongside the saloon model at Cowley minus their rear bodies. The half-completed cars were then shipped to the MG factory at Abingdon where the bodies (built in Coventry) would be mated to the chassis and the final assembly carried out. This was because the main Cowley production lines were no longer fully equipped to deal with body-on-frame vehicles such as the Traveller while the MG lines still handled these sorts of cars and had experience working with wood-framed bodies. Commercial models, marketed as the Morris Quarter Ton Van and Pick-up were added in May 1953. Rear bodies of the van versions were all steel. The four-seat convertible and saloon variants continued as well.

In October 1954 the Minor's front end and interior styling was updated, with the addition of a horizontal slat grille, and a new dashboard with a central speedometer. Larger tail lights were also fitted by the end of the year. As Alec Issigonis had left BMC for Alvis in 1952 and wouldn't return until 1955, the Cowley design team led by Sid Goble undertook this series of design updates. These changes were announced at the London Motor Show in late October 1954.

The Motor magazine tested a four-door saloon in 1952. It reported a top speed of 62 mph (100 km/h) and acceleration from 0–50 mph (80 km/h) in 28.6 seconds. A fuel consumption of 39.3 miles per imperial gallon (7.19 L/100 km; 32.7 mpg US) was recorded. The test car cost £631 including taxes.

The 803 cc A-Series inline-four engine used in the Series II produced 30 hp (22 kW) at 4,800 rpm and 40 ft⋅lb (54 N⋅m) of torque at 2,400 rpm

269,838 examples of the Series II had been built when production ended in 1956.

--copied from Wikipedia