History

The J/B  (‘57 ~ ‘61)

The ‘J’ type was updated in 1957, with the fitting of the O.H.V. 1489 cc, 42 bhp, ‘B’ series engine, mated to a 4-speed box. Chassis numbers, starting at 36,266, carried on from the earlier ‘J’ type but were now prefixed with JB/MR (B series/Morris). To distinguish it from its predecessor, the van became known as the Morris~Commercial ‘JB’. With the advent of the Austin version of the van the ‘Morris~Commercial’ front grille badge gave way to a larger ‘Morris’ one.

The Austin 101  (‘57 ~ ‘61)

Badge-engineering by the British Motor Corporation saw an Austin version of the JB introduced, known as the Austin ‘101’, which differed from the JB only in the design of the front grille panel and the badging. These carried chassis numbers in sequence with the J/B but prefixed by JB/AR (B series/Austin) so it is impossible to work out how many of the Austin version were produced.

Production ends

Production ceased early in 1961 although vehicles were still being registered as late as December of the same year. The very last van produced carried chassis number 48,621