William Morris began his entrepreneurial career manufacturing bicycles before entering the auto business early in the twentieth century. In 1910 the Morris Motor Company (MMC) was born with a factory opening three years later in Cowley, Oxfordshire from which their first production model, the Morris Oxford "Bullnose" was produced.

After many successful years as a major UK car manufacturer Morris recruited Alec Issigonis, a young engineer who had been working for Humber and who also went on to design the Mini, perhaps one of Britain's most iconic images of the post war age that eventually led to his Knighthood.

His revolutionary design of the Morris Minor was first unveiled to the public at the Earls Court Motor Show on 20 September 1948. This slowly became a landmark vehicle that was noted for it's roomy interior, superior handling, great styling and low running costs.

William Morris, now Viscount Nuffield, merged a number of his auto companies, including Morris Motors, to form a new company, the Nuffield Organisation in 1938. The Nuffield Organisation later merged with its rival, the Austin Motor Company to form the British Motor Corporation in 1952. This led to the modernisation of production techniques and saw the Morris Minor being produced in plants all over the world, including South America, India and Australia.

The Minor survived the mergers and takeovers up until 1971, when the then current owners, British Leyland Motor Corporation, ceased production. However, the Morris name continued to be used up until 1984 after which it was finally dropped by the Austin Rover Group who had acquired the name following the demise of British Leyland. The Morris Minor's manufacturing base in Cowley is still in use today producing the Mini for BMW.

By the time the Morris Minor was eventually withdrawn from production in 1971, over 1.3 million of them had been sold.