newbie austin 301

Hi Onetrack, Don't forget the Beddy cabs/short and long nose Thames Traders/Morris J Vans/Land Rovers etc
Cheers Hardshar.

Hi Onetrack, Don't forget the Beddy cabs/short and long nose Thames Traders/Morris J Vans/Land Rovers etc
Cheers Hardshar.

I thought the Morris J and JB vans were brought in as 'CKD' packages and only assembled at Zetland. This still means English manufacture, but Oz assembly.

Bugly - Yes, they assembled were, as I understand. However, this means that a substantial amount of Australian content went into them, and they were classed as "Australian production" vehicles.

BMC used lots of local automotive suppliers to supply accessories and components, to make up a minimum of around 60% .. and often up to 80% .. Australian-content manufacture.
Even before WW2, most vehicles built in Australia had at least 60% Australian content.
It was a Govt-mandated rule, even before WW2, and long before any recent "industry plans", to have as much local content as possible.
We had an automotive parts and component production .. and assembly industry .. that was absolutely huge, even in the 1920's.
I've seen the car and truck manufacturing, and automotive parts industry, employment figures from the 1930's, and they are astonishing.
This was a major industry in Australia from the 1920's, I can assure you that.

Despite the fact that many vehicles were imported CKD, these crates often only contained the bare cab, the chassis rails, the motor, transmission and rear axle. Everything else was usually made here.
Wheels, trim, paint, springs, electrics (from lights & wiring to batteries & generators), tyres, many small panels and pressings, fasteners, rubber components, brake components .. they were all made here, and supplied to the manufacturer, to complete the "assembly" of CKD vehicles .. thus making what the Govt and everyone else, officially recognised as, an Australian-built vehicle.

IMO, the fact that vehicles were fully assembled and painted here, and given a local compliance plate, doesn't jell with the advice that the original British manufacturing company could offer information on original colour, extras, and ID numbers .. unless this info was sent back to the parent company by the Australian subsidiary, and kept by them.

Cheers - Ron.

Off topic
When I was trying to get info on our David brown 30TD crawler , The info Guru on the David Brown forum said Most infomation , like warranty work ETC from dealers out here were sent back to the head office in England . Most of this info has ended up At Museums . He did searchs , but was unable to come up with any matches to our machine . It is alway amazing , When any of us ask a question on forums ,how much infomation comes to light from great people Like Ron .

Hi all, When i worked at Pressed Metal at Enfield the J model Morris was coming down the line with the majority if not all of them in Buttercup Bakeries colours of white and yellow.
Cheers Hardshar.

Hardshar - This following webpage, then, should bring back a few memories for you, of those ugly little buggers!
It's funny how they all seem to have disappeared? .. even though us older blokes can recall seeing them constantly when we were kids??

www.allcarcentral.com/Morris_pdf/Morris_...ck_Feibusch_2010.pdf

Hardshar - This following webpage, then, should bring back a few memories for you, of those ugly little buggers!
It's funny how they all seem to have disappeared? .. even though us older blokes can recall seeing them constantly when we were kids??

Hey 1Track ... Here's Bugly, sitting in my shed waiting restoration after the Dennis F1. Mechanically ready to rock 'n roll, just need to work on the body and interior. This van was bought new by Brown and Burns, bakers of Subiaco, WA.

Just to keep this on-subject, Austin brought out a version of the Morris JB van, which was the Austin 101 van. All were 10cwt, or half-ton. The Austin had a different grille, otherwise identical.

....if you don't count the grille i like the way the front looks like the earliest cherry picker mack...you know the ones with the studio cab!!!

Sorry guys but after looking at Onetracks link to the Morris J i realise that i have been talking about the J2 being assembled at Pressed Metal. Thankfully there was only one picture of a J2 as i did not like the look of them. I've allways liked the look of the J model because as a kid growing up in Bankstown a suburb of Sydney the local Electrical store HG PALMER'S had a fleet of the J model's. Also the NRMA had a fleet of them. Sorry about the confusion.
Cheers Hardshar.