By Classic Yorkshire contributor Tony Lofthouse
Secret plans to relaunch the iconic Morris Minor have been revealed.
In an exclusive from Autocar, they report that plans were drawn up 20 years ago for a new-look Minor as competing bids were made to take over the collapsed MG Rover Group.
The return of the Morris Minor name was stored in plans led by the Shanghai Automotive Industries Corporation (SAIC) and Magma Holdings, founded by ex-Ford of Europe boss Martin Leach.
This would have been the third resurrection of the Minor, going back decades.
The first Minor was manufactured by Morris Motors Ltd between 1928 and 1934. The second generation of the model ran from 1948 and 1971 when it would become the first British car to reach one million sales.
In 2005, the successful bidder for the Midlands giant would pick up the rights to the Morris and Austin names as well as MG and Rover.
Leach’s idea – not revealed in the formal Magma-SAIC bid for MG Rover – was to launch a new-look Minor and revive the Morris brand.
In a twist of fate, SAIC-Magma lost out to the Nanjing Automobile Corporation bid, who would soon after merge with SAIC.
Ironically, the plans to bring back the Minor came as a new wave of retro models enjoyed a boom with the likes of the BMW Mini and VW Beetle capitalising on their strong brands.
Was this a lost opportunity to revive a popular British classic? Quite possibly.