Minor production versus The Austin 7

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Ian Grace
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Minor production versus The Austin 7

Post by Ian Grace »

With the completion of the Morris Minor Genome, we now have fool production data for each body type and for each production season. This data is also available for the Austin 7, and so the next task wil be to undertake a per-season, per-body type comparison between the Minor and the 7.

Here are the production totals for the Minor and the 7:

Season Minor Seven

1929 12,638 22,709
1930 14,273 23,826
1931 13,123 21,282
1932 19,258 20,121
1933 13,478 20,475
1934 13,582 22,542

This data shows that the production numbers during these seasons were not that disparate. In fact, 1932 production was quite close. Why did 1932 Minor production peak so dramatically, while the Seven production was approximately flat between the 1931 and 1933 seasons? This was due to the parallel production of OHC (LWB) and SWB cars. The 1932 season Minor production comprised 14,758 SV Minors as well as 4,500 LWB cars.

A more detailed analysis by body type may reveal other interesting comparisons. What is immediately obvious is the tiny number of Seven 2-seaters built compared to Minor 2-seaters. For each year of the above production, the Seven 2-seater production was 107, 425, 559, 476, 865 and 1,015. These compare with the Minor's numbers of 0, 0, 2,199, 2,756 (of which 744 were Semi-sports), 1,884 and 1,508. So between the years of 1931 and 1934, if you wanted a 2-seater,m you probably chose the Minor over the 7. And with such low 2-seater Seven production in 1929 and 1930, this might explain why Morris waited until the 1931 season to introduce a 2-seater.

More research will follow with a view to inclusion in M 149.
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