Morris Engines

The Hotchkiss company of France, who were makers of the famous machine gun, hurriedly transferred production to England during World War I when it looked as if their St. Denis factory near Paris was going to be overrun by the Germans.

Consequently, a factory was erected at Gosford Street, Coventry, and both machines and key staff were brought over to England so that production could start as soon as possible.

At the end of the War in 1918, the factory suddenly became short of work so Hotchkiss agreed to manufacture engines and gearboxes, copied from American designs[citation needed], for Morris Motors Ltd.

However, Hotchkiss refused saying that they were unwilling to make more than 300 power units per week, because an expansion in England would have needed capital that they preferred to use in France.

Situated as it was in a congested area of Coventry, the Gosford Street factory site had little space for expansion on horizontal lines, so a six-storey extension was constructed.

As further expansion, to meet the rising demand for power units, was foreseen, Morris purchased a 45-acre (180,000 m2) site north of Coventry at Courthouse Green in 1927 and a mechanised foundry, together with the machining of cylinder blocks, was set up there.

During the late 1930s, the Courthouse Green factory was turning out over 3,000 power units per week and throughout the Second World War, it was working flat-out making engines for fire pumps, ambulances, military vehicles, lifeboats and tanks, as well as components for aero engines and for Rotol variable pitch air screws.