If you were a youngster in the mid-1950s (no names, no pack drill) you would see many Morris Oxford Series II cars on the streets of Britain. These succeeded the 1948-1954 Morris Oxford MO that looked like a bigger Morris Minor (there never was a Morris Oxford Series I) which had sold 160,000 examples or roughly 23,000 a year. The Oxford Series II had a distinctive, rounded three-box shape that did away with the vestigial wings of the MO. It was updated in 1956 to Series III, and sales of the two series totalled 145,000 over the six years 1954-59, or roughly 24,000 a year. They all had four-cylinder engines of around 1,500cc displacement. There were also the smaller-engined and less-well-equipped Morris Cowley models (1200 from 1954 to 1956 and 1500 from 1956 to 1958) with total sales of 22,000.
But that 1950s youngster would very occasionally see an almost identical car with a different badge. This was the Morris Isis. No wonder it was not often seen: between 1955 and 1958 only 12,000 were sold – roughly 3,000 a year.
The Isis was the flagship of the Morris Oxford/Cowley range. It continued a tradition of bigger-engined Morris models that went back to the Morris Oxford Six from 1929, the Morris Big Six from 1935, and the Morris Six Series MS from 1948 to 1953. The Isis was powered by a 2,639cc 86bhp ohv six-cylinder engine (90bhp in the Series II). The almost-unibody shell and torsion bar front suspension were shared with the Oxford, but the wheelbase and front end were lengthened to accept the six-cylinder engine. The Series I Isis matched the Series II Oxford. The Isis was, unsurprisingly, the fastest and most powerful Morris of its time; it was also the last Morris designed by the Morris design office at Cowley before the advent of BMC in 1952.
The Series II car in our Snapshot has the 1956 facelift changes that were made to create the Series III Oxford as well: a more elaborate mesh grille, chrome side strips and small fins. An automatic transmission option was also added. The manual version had a four-speed box operated by a short gearstick on the right-hand side of the front bench seat. The handbrake lever was just behind the gearstick.
The Morris Isis was available in mono or duotone colours; thanks to the good offices of the succinctly named “6/80 & MO Oxford & Cowley Club” at the recent 2025 Classic Motor Show at the NEC, both of those colour options can be seen.
There was also a ‘woody’ estate car Traveller version. That must have been even rarer.
And then, in 1959, came the BMC Farina cars. Their story can be read in the new book on these cars, the last one published by our late lamented SAHB board member Anders Ditlev Clausager, available now from Herridge & Sons (www.herridgeandsons.com).
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