Series III van and pick-up: 1956-1960
The Series III ½ ton (10cwt) Morris Commercial Vehicle (MCV) was introduced in late October 1956 and officially announced and available from November 1956. It replaced the previous ½ ton van and pick-up based on the Oxford Series MO.
The Series III MCV was an amalgamation of the Cowley 1200 introduced in July 1954 which was restyled as the Cowley 1500 in October 1956 upon which the van and pick-up were predominantly based. Although never officially named as such, it was unofficially identified by the public as a Cowley.
Like the Cowley 1200 it had a rounded bonnet, however, the bonnet did not have an air-vent, nor did it use the restyled fluted bonnet of the Cowley 1500 and Oxford Series III. It did retain the Morris badge on the front of the bonnet but there was no “Cowley” name on the front wings, bonnet, or anywhere else.
With the Cowley 1500 it shared the dashboard, steering wheel, plain headlamp rims, painted door window surrounds and a windscreen rubber with no embellisher, opening quarter light windows, winkers and the 1,489cc ohv low compression engine. A bench seat was available in export van models. The UK models were only supplied with a single driver’s seat as standard, but an optional extra was a passenger seat or the bench seat. The interior trimming was only in brown. They also had black painted wing mirrors mounted close to the windscreen and five nut wheels. It had a nearside fuel filler and an exhaust that discharged from the nearside.
The van sold in basic form for £605 in 1957 with an extra £8 for a passenger seat. The pick-up sold in basic form for £595 in 1957 with an extra £20 for a canvas rear cover. Provision of a heater and windscreen washers were also an optional extra.
The factory produced these vehicles in primer as many went on to be sprayed and sign written to their owner’s requirements. For an extra £5 10s the factory would paint in standard colours of Clarendon or Birch Grey, Empire or Dark Green, or Sandy Beige.
A basic chassis was also available behind the cab which permitted external coachbuilders to create bespoke rear layouts for customers. The standard van volume was 120 to 138 ft3. The pick-up had a rear loading bay 1.79m by 1.68m (1.11m between wheel arches) and with the canvas tilt in place, the volume was also 120ft3.
The MCV half-ton sold steadily and peaked in 1958. Most half-tons worked hard and were well liked for their strength, reliability and load carrying capabilities, which earned them a good reputation.
The chassis numbers indicate that some 16,177 cabs, vans and pick-ups were produced in their four-year production run. Production ceased in October 1960 as BMC switched to use the Austin A55 as the basis for their next light commercial vehicle.