AHC: Improved Morris Minor as Competitor to the VW Beetle

Ford UK like other carmakers in Britain were still recovering from the war for it to be practical, however though less then ideal they could have simply appropriated Ford of Germany's pre-war plans for 1.5-litre SV and even (933-)1498cc OHV versions of the easily tunable Ford Sidevalve engine (the latter later appearing in the OTL 1955 Ford Taunus P1 15M) for use in the post-war Anglia models from the pre-war bodied E04A / A54A up to the 100E.

But UK Ford already had the lines in production for the V8 Flathead at Dagenham, for powering the Bren Carriers and such. Makes more sense to use them, than to retool for another type for export sales.

They needed to sell something ASAP in 1946 for the US market, as Henry Ford II had decided before the War ended that Ford wouldn't do a smaller model. Don't want to wait for the Pilot to be launched.
Ford USA had already found that there wasn't a market for the 4 cylinder anymore in 1935, and Crosley would find after the war.

The only inline four that really kept sales in the US was the Willys Jeep
 
But UK Ford already had the lines in production for the V8 Flathead at Dagenham, for powering the Bren Carriers and such. Makes more sense to use them, than to retool for another type for export sales.

They needed to sell something ASAP in 1946 for the US market, as Henry Ford II had decided before the War ended that Ford wouldn't do a smaller model. Don't want to wait for the Pilot to be launched.
Ford USA had already found that there wasn't a market for the 4 cylinder anymore in 1935, and Crosley would find after the war.

The only inline four that really kept sales in the US was the Willys Jeep

The Ford Sidevalve was used by both Ford UK and Ford of Germany, it would not have taken much for the former to gain the blueprints from the latter given the 1.5 OHV used in the Taunus P1 likely used similar if not the same tooling for the sake of reducing costs.

A pity that Ford never developed a 2-litre+ inline-4 equivalent to the Standard Vanguard, the only other successful 4-cylinder in the US was the Beetle.
 
What Euro powerplant that was mass produced could put out HP like the Chrysler 392 Hemi or 365 Caddy?

Olds tried turboed small aluminum V8s with water injection, in a few years they also went with big iron 8s that were more reliable

Lucas electronics and SU carbs was a terrible introduction to Brit technology.

I had a MG Midget. Fun, but pooped out at 90mph with the motor screaming.

A big Chrysler 300 had no problem at 140, or more
http://www.allpar.com/cars/chrysler/300C/300F.html


Not the right period, but it reminded me of this
 
The Ford Sidevalve was used by both Ford UK and Ford of Germany, it would not have taken much for the former to gain the blueprints from the latter given the 1.5 OHV used in the Taunus P1 likely used similar if not the same tooling for the sake of reducing costs.

A pity that Ford never developed a 2-litre+ inline-4 equivalent to the Standard Vanguard, the only other successful 4-cylinder in the US was the Beetle.

after the four bombed in the Model B with the into of the 221V8, Henry was done with fours, and neither his son or grandson liked them.

But the Willys/Kaiser/AMC Hurricane four was a 2.2L , and lasted till 1970, with an update in 1950 from the pre-war motor.
 
after the four bombed in the Model B with the into of the 221V8, Henry was done with fours, and neither his son or grandson liked them.

But the Willys/Kaiser/AMC Hurricane four was a 2.2L , and lasted till 1970, with an update in 1950 from the pre-war motor.

While the Ford family were never a fan of 4-cylinder engines, that did not stop Ford from bringing over the British Anglia and Prefect from 1948 and effectively inventing the modern captive import system.

Though you are likely talking about inline-4s with regards to the Jeep, Volkswagen managed to be a success in the US with the flat-4 engines via the Beetle and Type-2.
 
While the Ford family were never a fan of 4-cylinder engines, that did not stop Ford from bringing over the British Anglia and Prefect from 1948 and effectively inventing the modern captive import system.

Though you are likely talking about inline-4s with regards to the Jeep, Volkswagen managed to be a success in the US with the flat-4 engines via the Beetle and Type-2.

Yeah, Inline.

Henry II while not wanting to build small cars in the US, wasn't adverse to them, as long as they made money. OTL Anglias I feel would have done better if they just had more power. They were weaker than the old Model A, one of the reasons why Henry II thought the Beetle was a poor auto in 1946. The US and Canadian market expected more HP than Europe, even for entry level cars.

VW and later Toyota learned this fairly quickly. British makers didn't. Had VW stuck with the 25HP 1100cc, it would have been done in the USA by 1956 with its original 60mph top speed.
 
Yeah, Inline.

Henry II while not wanting to build small cars in the US, wasn't adverse to them, as long as they made money. OTL Anglias I feel would have done better if they just had more power. They were weaker than the old Model A, one of the reasons why Henry II thought the Beetle was a poor auto in 1946. The US and Canadian market expected more HP than Europe, even for entry level cars.

VW and later Toyota learned this fairly quickly. British makers didn't. Had VW stuck with the 25HP 1100cc, it would have been done in the USA by 1956 with its original 60mph top speed.

Ford though probably would not have wanted to undercut the 1941 and 1949 Fords where both entry-level models used the 3.7-litre Ford Straight-6, unfortunately there was nothing in the post-war period which would have filled the gap between the 3.7-litre Ford Straight-6 and 1.2-litre Ford Sidevalve 4-cylinder engines apart of a 1.5-litre OHV version of the latter along with Ford UK's 1951 mk1 Ford Zephyr Six.

As for the Morris Minor, the most one can expect is a 106-115 hp 2.0-litre B-Series or a 100-108 hp 1.6-litre B-Series Twin-Cam.

Austin did try with the Austin A90 Atlantic though believe the 2660cc inline-6 derived from the Austin Sheerline inline-6 (allegedly a Chinese copy of the 2nd generation Chevrolet Straight-6) had potential for further development, beyond being used in the Austin-Healey 100 in petrol form and the Austin FX4 London Black Cab in dieselized form until the early-70s (the Healeys in OTL even had plans to develop 2.5-litre Twin-Cam versions of the inline-4).
 
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