Cowley: a century of car manufacture
March 2013 marked the 100th anniversary of car production at the Cowley motor plant in Oxford.
Founded on the site of the former Oxford Military College, production commenced on March 28th, 1913 when a Bullnose Morris Oxford rolled off the production line. It was the first of nearly 12 million cars produced at the plant in the following century. British marques such as Morris, Austin, MG, Triumph and Rover are among the 14 makes associated with the factory.
BMW is the current tenant of the plant and manufactures Minis there. The first Mini was produced in 1959 and throughout the following years some 2.8 million new and old style Minis have been produced at Cowley. The site currently employs 3,700 people with 900 vehicles rolling off the production line daily.
Other models produced at the plant include the Morris Minor, Morris Oxford, Morris Marina, Austin-Healey Sprite, MG Midget, BMC 1100 and the Rover 75.
Under the ownership of Lord William Morris Nuffield, the factory also produced respirators and iron lungs, which were donated to hospitals across the empire.
During the Second World War, Cowley produced military equipment including Tiger Moth trainer planes, jerry cans, parachutes and a wide assortment of military spare parts, as well as conducting over 80,000 repairs on Spitfires and Hurricanes.
Contributed by Martyn
(Published 30th Sep 2014)
