IN the late 1940s when British car development was speeding up after the end of the Second World War there were some impressive vehicles rolling off the line, but some have never really had the recognition they truly deserve. One such is the Morris Six, a six-cylinder medium sized saloon made from 1948 to 1954. It was the Morris company's first post war six-cylinder car and could be bought for what was then the princely sum of £671. From the windscreen back, the Six looked similar to the 1948 Morris Oxford, but at the front the bonnet was lengthened to accommodate the 2215cc six cylinder engine which featured an overhead camshaft. It received an upright grille which was totally unlike the Oxford's chrome grin and its more traditional style did it proud. Because of its new front end the Six was longer than the Oxford with a wheelbase of 110 inches as against 97 inches. Suspension was independent at the front using torsion bars and at the rear there was a conventional live axle and semi elliptic springs. It was a powerful car and one press road tester of the day clocked it at a maximum of 82mph. But it took a good 22 seconds to propel its 1360kg to 60mph. However, in 1950 the rear axle ratio was lowered to improve acceleration and twin dampers were fitted to the front torsion bar independent suspension. Interestingly the steering was not the accepted rack and pinion type fitted to the Oxford but a lower geared Bishop Cam system. It was not exactly miserly on fuel, only achieving around 20mpg, but this was the norm with a lot of the usually heavy six-cylinder cars of the era. Because Morris was part of the Nuffield organisation there was a lot of design sharing going on and the Six was somewhat similar to its stablemate the Wolseley 6/80. In many ways, the better looking Wolseley upstaged it but the Six had an excellent production run until 1954, selling 12,400 units. It actually went out on a blaze of glory because a de-luxe version was announced at the 1953 London Motor Show with leather upholstery, a heater (which was a luxury item in those days) and over-riders on the front bumpers. One of the reasons I am such a fan of this car is because of its fine construction, wonderful front end styling, a good powerful engine and a total lack of pretention. It was rock solid , British and reliable. What more could you want? | 
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