A decade ago, examples of the Morris Minor were still being pulled out of barns and garages and it wasn’t uncommon to come across a shabby but sound Minor which had simply been sitting unused for years. Today though, the passion for barn-finds has ensured that all the cars peacefully slumbering away have been dragged out and auctioned off, which has the knock-on effect that most Minors you’ll encounter today have been partly restored at least once.

The car was conceived in the 1940s as a replacement for the ageing prewar Morris Eight. The brief was seen as an opportunity for Issigonis to condense all his innovative design ideas into a single vehicle and it was this which created the Minor’s basic design: the body style said to be influenced by Packard, the torsion-bar suspension, the wheel-at-each-corner layout and generous interior space.

The design had originally called for a flat-four engine but conservative Morris boss Lord Nuffield dictated that an existing conventional powerplant be used instead. The result was that the car was launched in 1948 using the old side-valve engine from the Morris Eight.

Although smooth, it offered only 30bhp, but salvation came with the creation of BMC in March 1952 with Austin man Leonard Lord at the helm. Lord phased out the old Morris engine and in 1953 the Series 2 Minor received the A-Series engine developed for the Austin A30 as well as an Austin rear axle.

In October 1953 the wood-framed Traveller joined the range, while in 1956 the Morris Minor 1000 arrived.

In 1960, the one millionth Minor was celebrated with the lilac ‘Minor 1000000’ special edition. Flashing indicators were added in 1961, while in 1962 the engine was enlarged again to 1098cc. In 1963 revised light clusters incorporated separate orange segments for the indicators.

Minor production was wound down in in 1969 for the convertible, the saloons in November 1970 and the Traveller clinging on until April 1971.