Morris Minor Endurance Run
10,000 Miles in 10 Days

This article appeared in Motor magazine, 15 October 1952.

Not seeking to set up international records, but to carry out an extremely searching road test under constant scientific supervision, the Experimental Department of the Nuffield Organization last week did what has never been done before. A series production Morris Minor four-door saloon, with the latest o.h.v. 803 c.c. BMC engine (first fruits of the arrangement between the Austin and Nuffield organizations) was driven for 10 days completely non-stop, covering 1,000 miles per day. The run commenced, not on a circular banked track where speeds can be kept constant, but on the well-known Goodwood road circuit, where corner succeeds corner, on 1 October at 6 a.m. and finished at about 11 a.m. on October 10. The little car, which is an "export only" model, was driven by a team of six drivers, taking turns at the wheel, and was averaging all day and all night something over 45 m.p.h., at a fuel consumption which grew steadily better after the first 4,000 miles and at no time fell below 40 m.p.g.

Tape recorders were used to register two-way V.H.F. radio conversations between technicians in the mobile tender and the static control room.	Timing and control were undertaken m what is usually the race timekeepers' box. Laps completed were automatically recorded each time the car crossed a strip across half the track.

Naturally, the car was well prepared for its task of covering a year's motoring in 10 days, but except for a larger petrol tank and special seat hinges to allow drivers to clamber in and out of the car while it was still in motion, nothing was altered on the vehicle. Where this performance differs from normal record attempts  (which this was not) is that throughout the run the engine never ceased driving the car and the wheels never stopped rotating. This remarkable feat was achieved 'by the use of a truck and an articulated trailer as a tender. The trailer was in the form of a hollow cage on wheels, with platforms at the sides where mechanics could work and a frame-superstructure overhead, floodlit at night, and coupled to the pilot vehicle so that the Minor's "pulse and temperature" could be taken by technicians sitting at instruments in the pilot car.

When maintenance was required, the Minor was carefully driven into the cage, which was being towed round the circuit. When once within, bars were dropped into place front and rear, and a series of lights told the driver that he was still keeping his car under power, and not being towed.

The Minor enters a marked "lane" and drives up to the rear of the moving tender.

Located thus, and with the hand throttle set, the car was left to the mechanics. Fuel and oil were put in, and by raising one wheel at a time on a block and tackle (there being hand brakes to each rear wheel) the wheels could be changed while the car was still motoring  itself  at  some   15-20 rn.p.h and the non-stop run was uninterrupted.

A very detailed record was kept of the car's performance, its fuel consumption and its tyre wear, which, on the Goodwood circuit with its corners, were far higher than would occur during a 10,000-mile run on normal roads. Indeed, the engineers discovered that appreciable horse-power was consumed in the constant cornering alone, and petrol consumption was elevated by nearly 8 m.p.g. in the process equivalent to covering 15 per cent more mileage on a straight road and requiring  807,800,000 ft./lb. greater energy output! Tyre wear was in ratio. Tyres were worn with the constant cornering, day and night, at six times the normal rate of road wear. In actual figures, it was found that at the set average speed of 45 m.p.h., tyre wear on the front wheels was at the rate of I mm. of tread depth per 250 miles on the Goodwood circuit.  This compares with 1 mm per 1,500 miles at the same speed on ordinary A and B class roads.
 

When the car is in the bay with the rear struts in position light signals tell the driver when the car is exerting positive thrust on the tender.	Oil, water and tyres are attended to inside the servicing bay without the Minor ceasing to propel itself. Rear-wheel changes were done by lifting clear and braking the "change" wheel and driving with the other.

In normal record-breaking runs of this nature, of course, the car stops at the pits while maintenance is carried out,  but  in  this  achievement, the Morris was never stopped at all, and the reliability and endurance of the engine were stressed to the maximum possible. The run was extended to slightly over the exact 10 days, providing a margin to allow for possible errors in measurement.  In all, 10,148 miles (4,264 laps) were covered at an average speed of 45.3 m.p.h. and with an average fuel consumption of 43 mpg.