Mors

France, 1895 – 1925; 1941 – 1943

(1) Société d’Electricité et d’Automobiles Mors, Paris, 1895 – 1907

(2) Société Nouvelle des Automobiles Mors, Paris, 1908 – 1943

Emile Mors was an electrical engineer, which may account for the ingenious ignition system (by low-tension coil and dynamo) found on his first Mors cars with aiv V4 engines, dry-sump lubrication, water-cooled heads and air-cooled barrels. These power units were rear-mounted, and the belt-and-pulley change-speed gear on the Mors car was in the Benz idiom. Production in 1898 was running at 200 Mors cars a year and front-mounted engines made their appearance on the Mors Petit Duc, an 850cc flat-twin with partial water cooling, cone clutch and final drive of the Mors car was by side chains. Steering was by handlebar and the Mors car cost £294 in England in 1900. The Mors car was still listed in 1901, though later examples were wheel-steered. 

The Mors racing cars designed by Brasier at first rivalled and then surpassed the hitherto invincible Panhards, winning the Paris-st. Malo and Paris-Bordeaux in 1899, following this with victories of Mors cars in the Paris-Toulouse-Paris and Bordeaux-Périgeux-Bordeaux in 1900, and the Paris-berlin and Paris-Bordeaux in 1901. In 1902 the Mors 60hp 9.2-litre competition machines had shock absorbers and in 1903 capacity of the Mors car had gone up to 11.6-litres, with mechanically-operated overhead inlet valves and streamlined bodywork of the upturned-boat type. Gabriel won the Paris-Madrid race on one of these Mors cars, while the Hon. C.S. Rolls recorded 84,68mph over the kilometer at Welbeck on a similar Mors car. The 1904 racers saw a reversion to T-head power units, but this was the last year in which Mors cars made any impression on the circuits. Though Jenatzy drove a Mors car for the team in the 1908 Grand Prix, he took 9th place, and the 2½-litre Mors cars prepared for the cancelled 1914 Coupe de l’Auto never reappeared.

Though full water cooling was not adopted till 1902 on Mors cars, vertical 4-cylinder engines made their appearance late in 1899, followed in 1900 by low-tension magneto ignition. 1901 Mors cars had what amounted to one carburetter per cylinder, with a huge central float chamber. From 1902 onwards the Mors cars followed conventional lines; 1903 Mors carmodels retained the chain drive, but had mechanically-operated sv in a T-head, pressed-steel frames, Dubrulle lubrications and Mercedes-style honey-comb radiators. Brasier had already departed the Mors car company to work for Georges Richard. In 1904 Charles Schmidt, also of Mors cars, went to design European-style cars for Packard in America – this had no connection with the American Mors cars made from 1906 to 1909. Also new on Mors cars in 1904 was the ‘shouldered’ radiator shell which persisted on the Mors carmarque almost to the end. 4-cylinder Mors cars only were made in 1905; they came in 2.3-litre, 3.2-litre, 4.3-litre, 5.7-litre and 8.1-litre sizes, and the largest Mors car, rated at 40/52hp, had an auxiliary transverse spring at the rear and cost £1.224. In 1906 the aluminium water jacketing introduced on Mors cars in 1903 was abandoned, while cone clutches gave way to the contracting-band type which Mors cars never departed from. Ignition was now by high-tension magneto and options included the Huillier windscreen (patented by a Mors car company’s director) and compressed-air starting. A cab-over-engine petrol brougham was listed on the 17hp Mors car chassis. In 1907 L-head monobloc engines arrived with the small 10hp Mors car and 15hp models, which Mors cars also had shaft drive and pressure lubrication: at the top of the range was an 50hp 6-cylinder Mors car with gate change and low-tension magneto ignition and this Mors car sold at £1.375 in England.

The 1908 depression was a blow from which the Mors car company never really recovered, though the company was reconstructed under André Citroën’s management and in 1909 they made 2.000 Mors cars, sales being aided by bigger shaft-driven 2.5-litre and 3.7-litre models. Chain drive and make-and-break ignition were to persiste on the biggest Mors cars until 1912, though there was a shaft-driven 3.6-litre 6-cylinder Mors car in 1911 and the L-head monobloc 12/15hp with 4-speed gearbox was quite popular in 1913/1914. Poppet and Knight sleeve-valve models in great diversity were offered on Mors cars during the last two pre-World War 1 seasons, the latter coming in 2.1-litre, 3.7-litre, 4.4-litre and 7.2-litre sizes with engines by Minerva. By 1914 only the small Mors cars retained sv power units; Citroën double helical bevels were standard, and an sv sports 17/20hp Mors cars was offered with electric lighting. Only Minerva-built Knight engines were used in Mors cars after 1918, the radiators wearing a triple-S monogram as a riposte to Panhard’s double-S (for sans soupages). Mors cars, however, had fewer resources than their former rivals, and not even good looks and a 70mph performance (plus front wheel brakes in 1921) could save the 3.6-litre Sporting 20 Mors car. A 2-litre Mors car, also Minerva-engined, appeared in 1922, but by 1925 most, if not all the Mors car company’s facilities had been absorbed by Citroën. There was a brief renaissance by Mors cars with electric cars during World War 2, but the last vehicles to bear the name of Mors were the Speed motor scooters made from 1952 to 1956.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS

The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com

Plymouth

US, 1928 to date

Chrysler Corporation, Detroit, Mich.

The 4-cylinder 21hp Plymouth car appeared in 1928 at a list price of $725 for a sedan. This Plymouth car replaced the earlier 4-cylinder Chryslers and represented a serious challenge for Ford and Chevrolet in their lowest price class. The Plymouth car had side valves, internal-expanding hydraulic brakes and ribbon-type radiator and gave the Plymouth car a close resemblance to the 1928 Chryslers and De Sotos, and Plymouth cars sold over 100.000 in its first year, even improving its sales position in the bleak economic climate of 1932. Plymouth cars adhered to four cylinders until 1933, when the Plymouth PD-series 6-cylinder was listed at less than $600. 1934 de luxe models of Plymouth cars had independent front suspension, but this was dropped after a year and did not reappear for some time on Plymouth cars. The standard engine in the later 1930 Plymouth cars had a capacity of 3.3-litres, rather smaller than that used in comparable Chevrolets and Fords: a small-bore 2.8-litre version Plymouth car was made for export up to 1939, but the name Plymouth was not usually found on Plymouth cars sold in England, which were nominally Chrysler Kew and Wimbledon sixes. After World War 2 evolution followed that of other Chrysler Corporation cars closely, the old-fashioned styling losing the Plymouth car division its long-held third place in American sales to Buick. Further, Plymouth cars retained the L-head six as its staple power unit right up to 1955, when Flight Sweep versions were introduced with over-square ohv V8 engines on accepted American lines in a variety of powers from 157 to 177bhp. The capacity of these Plymouth cars had 4.3-litres, while the six, now of 3.8-litres, remained available. These 1955 Plymouth cars were lower and longer than their predecessors and could be obtained with synchromesh, overdrive or automatic gearboxes.

The Plymouth Fury models of the ensuing decade represented a breakaway from the traditional Plymouth stolid family car, while the Plymouth Car Division was also responsible for Chrysler’s contribution to the compacts, the Plymouth Valiant launched for 1960. This Plymouth car had rather more European styling than its competitors, with a dummy spare-wheel moulding on the tail; interesting items of specification were the unitary construction of the Plymouth car, alternator ignition, and inclined in-line 2.8-litre ohv 6-cylinder engine. The influence of the Plymouth GT car on America resulted in the Plymouth Barracuda of 1965, a fastback coupé using the Valiant’s 8ft 10in wheelbase and a 4½-litre V8 power unit. Plymouth cars, like Ford and Chevrolet, was aiming at comprehensive coverage of the low and medium price market in 1966, with the compact Plymouth Valiant, the sports-compact Plymouth Barracuda, the medium-sized Plymouth Belvedere, the full-size Plymouth Fury, and the luxurious ‘VIP’ 4-door hardtop Plymouth car, offered only with a 5.2-litre V8 engine and selling for $2.930. An increasing emphasis on sporting Plymouth cars was detectable by 1968, when in addition to the established Barracuda there were two other sports coupés Plymouth car, the Plymouth GTX and the Plymouth Road Runner. All three Plymouth cars were available with 4-speed manual gearboxes and the 6.981cc 425bhp hemi-head V8 also used by Dodge. In 1970, when Valiant prices started at a low $2.172, there was also a Valiant sports coupé, the Plymouth Duster.

In 1971 Plymouth car company added a sub-compact to their Plymouth car range when they offered the 1½-litre Hillman Avenger as the Plymouth Cricket. The 1972 range of Plymouth cars embraced the Valiant on a 9ft wheelbase, the Barracudas and Satellites, and the full-size Furys with V8 engines and automatic transmission as standard. Engines in the Plymouth cars ranged from the Valiant’s 3.2-litre and 3.7-litre sixes up to the largest Chrysler unit, a V8 of 7.210cc. Electronic ignition was offered on the costliest Barracuda model. Casualties of new Federal regulations were the hemi-head engine and convertibles, and the same range Plymouth cars with minor improvements, among them manually-operated sun roofs, was offerd in 1973.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS

The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com