1935 | Morris Eight

The return of an old friend! Twenty years ago, we first sold this super Pre-Series Morris Eight Two-Seat Tourer and it came back to us to be re-sold to its last owner 14 years ago back in 2011. It is one of those wonderful old cars which comes with a wealth of history. Still bearing its original and valuable two letter registration mark allocated on registration in Norfolk over ninety years ago, we have details of all the owners back to 1970. It’s a widely travelled Morris having found homes in Kent, Gloucestershire, North and South Wales, East and West Yorkshire over the years. Introduced at the Earl’s Cour Motor show in October 1934 this was Morris’s attempt to provide a competitor for the Austin Seven and Ford Model Y. It provided highly popular and almost 300,000 were built with the first Tourers costing just £120. We have the Heritage Certificate confirming that this early car was built by Morris Motors on the 1st and 2nd of January 1935. Dispatched on January 4th, it was registered to its new owner just a fortnight later. Previous owners have kept many old MOTs and tax discs going right back to 1983. It has covered just 20,000 miles in the last 34 years, only 4000 with the last owner. Aimed at the middle-class family of the 1930s, the Morris Eight was a popular compact and economical car range designed for affordability and practicality. The early Pre-Series two-seat Tourer with its wire wheels is widely regarded as the prettiest model.

The Tourer design was simple yet elegant, with a classic pre-war aesthetic featuring rounded fenders, exposed wheels, and a distinctive upright chrome grille. Powered by a 918cc side-valve, four-cylinder engine, producing around 23.5 horsepower, this provided modest performance, with a top speed of approximately 58-60 mph and leisurely acceleration suited for the era's roads. Nowadays, they are best suited to touring in the 40-50mph range. Built on a pressed steel chassis with rigid axles, it used leaf spring suspension front and rear, offering a basic but comfortable ride. This was the earliest Morris to feature a hydraulic braking system Equipped with a three-speed manual gearbox with synchromesh on the top two gears, this was quite advanced for a budget car of the period. It was also economical, achieving around 35-40 mpg, ideal for cost-conscious buyers.




This charming example was comprehensively restored before we first acquired it and the drive train is still particularly strong, maintaining excellent oil pressure with both a quiet gearbox and rear axle. It comes with copies of manuals and service literature, many previous MOT and ownership records. Little used in recent years the Morris will be re-commissioned for the new owner with the fitment of four new tyres, a full brake overhaul and a comprehensive ignition and lubrication service in time to enjoy some summer motoring!