By the late 1940's Morris desperately needed new models
to put on the showroom floor.
The cheaper and more economical
version was to become immensely popular, the Morris Minor
MM, but the Oxford made its debut at the same time and
has, for those that are not Morris fans, become somewhat
forgotten.
Aimed fairly and squarely at the family man, the Oxford
featured an all new unit construction four door body
very similar in appearance to its smaller stable-mate.
This new body shell was also used as the base for other "Nuffield"
cars including the Morris Six, Wolseley 4/50 and 6/80.
Other new features included the Minor style torsion
bar suspension, a column gear change and a "new" side-valve
four cylinder engine which many viewed as a retrospective
move (the out-going Morris Ten used an overhead valve
layout!).
The Oxford MO remained in production in both
Saloon and Traveller forms until the arrival of the
Series II in 1954.