See Homepage.

This page: Information wanted on a Morris Ten from the 1930s, plus more vintage Morris photographs.

1. Morris 10/4 Saloon car AET 540.

Alistair dropped me a line in April 2007, after reading the 'find a car' page here at oldclassiccar, wondering if I might be able to shed any light on where his Grandad's old Morris 10/4 might be now. He asked:

"I am not sure if I am writing to the correct e-mail address, but here goes.....
I am trying to trace my grandfather's 1937 Morris 10/4 motor car, registration number AET 540, which was sold in 1979 - 1981 to a man called Tom Ireland (now deceased) who had a garage in Ayton in Berwickshire. Mr Ireland was connected to others who were involved in the Vintage / Classic car scene. The vehicle was in relatively good order at the time of being sold. I have managed to trace family and friends of Mr Ireland but have yet to trace the car. I have tried every legitimate way of trying to trace the whereabouts or the current owner without success. DVLA state they have no history or knowledge of the registration number. Mr Harry Edwards states he has no record of the car on his database under the Morris Club. How can I go about tracing the car? ..... I have copies of the original registration document and information on the car being first bought and registered from Sheffield archives. I also have original photographs and insurance documents when the car was in 'our family' .... is there any way that I can trace that the car has been bought by a foreign buyer and is now overseas? My gut feeling is that the car is sat in someone's barn or garage. Any assistance that you can provide will be appreciated."

Often the problem with searching for an old car like this 10/4 Morris, is that many have had their original registration numbers taken off them and sold on for a quick buck, to someone whose initials match those on the registration number, in this case AET. They get re-issued with an age-related plate, but the link to the car's early history is broken and unless records are maintained showing the number swap, it can be very tricky establishing whether an old car is still around or not. The chassis number however should be continuous regardless of any shennanigans with the registration number, so having this information can help with any search like this. Does anyone have any information on the 10/4 Morris that Alistair is researching?? if you can help, please drop me a line via the contact page and I'll forward the information on to Alistair. Judging by the pressed wheels, this is a late 1936-onwards Morris Ten Four Series 2.

[Update] some more information about the car to aid the search:
Type of body....Saloon
Model....Ten Four
Chassis / Frame No. .......S2TN97488
Engine No. ....72996
Capacity......998 cc
Date of First Registration ...............08-06-1937
Last known owner..........Robert James Black, Leaside, Greenlawalls, Duddo, Berwick-on-Tweed.

The vehicle was originally issued in a batch of 10 cars to a company which appears to be signed R.Main Motor Co. or R.Hain Motor Co. (address not given). According to insurance documents held the car was in the family from 30-03-1940 until time of sale to Mr Ireland (about 40 years!!)

In February 2009, the current owner of this very car contacted me, so I've passed his details on to Alistair.

2. Photos of Morris 10 Series II reg. DLG 129.

The following three photos are from my own collection. They all feature a Series II Morris 10, registration DLG 129. Note the chrome AA badge, and single spotlamp - the style of mounting makes me think it is a Notek lamp. This car also has extra stop/tail lamps fitted to the rear wings. This car has steel 'easiclean' wheels, suggesting it was built after late 1936, when the switch from spoked wheels occurred.

3. Another 1930s Morris, reg. CMV 653.

Barbara sent this photo over, found amongst some of her late father's effects. The photo shows a 1930s Morris, and I'm guessing at a slightly earlier Morris than those shown above? differences compared to the later Series IIs include the grille, and spoked rather than plain disc wheels. CMV 653 was registered in Middlesex. Two more opinions have now come forward since this page was published. One source identifies CMV as a larger model altogether, possibly a 16 or an 18, whereas another recognised body thinks it is a Series II Morris 12. Whatever it is, I'll leave the photo on this Morris 10 page, as it makes for interesting comparisons with the other Morris cars shown here.

4. A Morris 10/4 Series 2 alongside a 1930s Standard.

The photo shown below is another of my acquisitions - I had thought that the car nearest the camera could have been a Wolseley, but John R suggests that it is a Morris, with a Standard alongside. The nearest car has a substantial roof rack fitted to it, although no sign of what was carried on it. In the background are two interesting light commercials, namely a split screen Morris Minor van, and an Austin A40 van.

John adds: "The car with the roof rack is more likely to be a Morris 10 or 12, as it is apparently single tone, and I can't see any sign of the small bustle boot that the Wolseley had and the Morris didn't. For your extra cash the Wolseley gave you the boot bustle and overhead valves but the car was really no more than a tarted up Morris, especially for the last year until 1938 when the Morris got the OHV on the 10 as well. Leonard Lord was really a very clever production engineer for the time, introducing maximum use of minimum parts and getting away with it. He'd have fitted in well at Skoda/SEAT/Volkswagen/Audi these days.

The other car from the thirties parked behind the roof rack equipped car is quite definitely a "Flying" Standard with the later waterfall grille, which I always thought were horrible cars, with their split rear windows and Bendix brakes. You read of them these days as being well respected value for money family motors, so it must just be me and my little foibles. The local garage where my Dad worked for a short while had a Standard 20 and a war-time Standard "Tilly" pickup as hacks, this being in pre-MOT test days, and the 20hp engine eventually found its way into the pickup, which was then used for towing in breakdowns, including trucks!" Thanks for the info John!!

5. A Morris 10 or 12 Series II.

Ray sent the next photo in (thanks!), it shows a 1930's Morris with his grandparents. He adds: "My grandparents' Morris Ten or Twelve, taken somewhere in Scotland in 1949 ... all I can remember about the car was the colour was black and maroon, the speedo only worked if it was given a good whack, you needed Popeye's muscles to steer it, and it took 40 secs to reach 50mph. The registration I'm fairly sure was DPG 906, as he always said if the car turned over the number remained the same. He went on to a Morris 1000, SSF 557, which he finally left to my father".

A Morris 10 or 12 Series II with its owners.

Return to Classic Motoring Photographs - Page 4.

Photos showing the earlier pre-series version of this car can be found on the Morris 10/4 (pre-series) page, and a second page to feature the Series 2 Morris 10/4 can now be seen here.

Custom Search

Old Classic Car (C) R. Jones 2023. Content not to be reproduced elsewhere.

Website by ableweb.