Although Oak (and Morris's technical director, Sidney Smith) were in overall charge of the project, Issigonis was ultimately responsible for the design, working with only two other draughtsmen: (William)Jack Daniels.

While this meant that, with only a driver on board, the weight distribution was fairly even, when laden with passengers, cars often became severely tail-heavy, leading to unstable handling and oversteer.

Whatever Nuffield's personal views, all of the Mosquito's radical features were looking increasingly unlikely to be implemented while maintaining an acceptable final purchase price and without incurring too much setup costs at the Cowley factory.

This meant that several of Issigonis' proposals were reviewed – first the all-independent torsion bar suspension was changed for a torsion-sprung live rear axle and this was then substituted by a conventional leaf-sprung arrangement.

All of Miles Thomas' suggestions for spreading the cost of developing the new car and broadening the design's appeal were treated sceptically by the Morris board and vetoed by Lord Nuffield.

It became clear that the only way to overcome the personal and financial obstacles to the project was to adopt a lightly revised version of the Morris Eight's obsolete side-valve engine.

[18]: 66  Despite the changes the fundamental principles of Issigonis' concept – a spacious cabin, small wheels at each corner, a forward-placed engine, rack and pinion steering, and independent torsion-bar front suspension – remained.

Although in his later career he became known for very functional designs, Issigonis was heavily influenced by the modern styling of American cars, especially the Packard Clipper and the Buick Super.

The original Mosquito prototype, which drew Lord Nuffield's "poached egg" comment, was designed with similar proportions to prewar cars, being relatively narrow for its length.

[17]: 128  The production model was thus 4 inches (10 cm) wider than the prototype, and in keeping with Issigonis' design principles, this further improved interior space and roadholding.

The last-minute change to the design required a number of workarounds – bumpers had already been produced, so early cars had ones cut in half with a four-inch plate bolted between the joint.

Thus, Issigonis' ideas and design principles underpinned the complete postwar Morris and Wolseley car ranges, although not the same extent that Miles Thomas had initially proposed.

Exports to the United States began in 1949 with the headlamps removed from within the grille surround to be mounted higher on the wings to meet local safety requirements.

[10] An Autocar magazine road test in 1950 reported that these were "not of the usual self-cancelling type, but incorporate[d] a time-basis return mechanism in a switch below the facia, in front of the driver".

Another innovation towards the end of 1950 was a water pump (replacing a gravity dependent system), which permitted the manufacturer to offer an interior heater "as optional equipment".

As part of a rationalisation programme to reduce the production of duplicate components for similar vehicles, the Minor drivetrain was completely replaced with an Austin-derived engine, gearbox, propshaft, differential, and axle casing.

In October 1954 the Minor's front end and interior styling was updated, with the addition of a horizontal slat grille,[26] and a new dashboard with a central speedometer.

[30] Driving was further improved by a substantially revised gearbox, which incorporated taller ratios for more relaxed cruising speeds and a remote selector allowing a shorter gear lever and less ponderous gearchange action.

Many of the 'luxury' items, such as leather trim (except for the Tourer), were replaced with more durable and cheaper materials, and over the course of the following years the range of available paint and interior colours was dramatically reduced.

To commemorate the achievement, a limited edition of 350 two-door Minor saloons (one for each UK Morris dealership) was produced with distinctive lilac paintwork and a white leather interior with black piping.

The company, at the same time, presented a celebratory Minor to London's Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children, but this car was constructed of cake.

In 1964 the interior received its final update, with a new heater unit (now with fresh air ventilation), and from October of that year, a modified dashboard with toggle switches, white-on-black speedometer unit (incorporating a warning light for a blocked oil filter), textured alloy fascia, new glove-box cover design (a fully enclosing bottom-hinged cover on the passenger side, and fixed open aperture surround on the driver's side), and finally a two-spoke 'safety' steering wheel (shared with the Morris 1100) were added.

[38] The decline and cancellation of Minor production was source of some consternation by industry commentators in the late 1960s,[39] who believed that further development of the car had the potential to challenge the Volkswagen Beetle in export markets.

[39] The Minor was officially replaced on the Cowley production lines by the Morris Marina (ADO28), which was developed primarily in response to Ford's top-selling Escort.

[43] The Marina was developed under the watchful eye of British Leyland management, and used a modified version of the Minor chassis floorplan, extended to increase the wheelbase by 10 inches.

Many other Minor components, including much of the suspension, were used in the running gear, which served to streamline production changeover and minimise the financial outlay associated with chassis development and retooling.

The crisp styling, hydrolastic suspension and innovative front-wheel drive system (itself a "scaling-up" of the Mini principle) made ADO16 a worthy successor to the (in its day) forward-looking Minor.

In addition to more powerful engines, desirable improvements necessitated by the increase in traffic density since the Minor was withdrawn from volume production include the replacement of the original equipment drum brakes with discs.

Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson once stated that the Morris Minor is Britain's Volkswagen Beetle (although this was meant in a derogatory way rather than favourably).

One of the bids, led by Maserati CEO Martin Leach alongside Chinese state-owned Shanghai Automotive Industries Corporation (SAIC), included plans for a Morris Minor revival.