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Along for the Ride

Spotted this British beauty on UNC's campus this week. The Carolina blue Morris Motors vehicle in pristine shape was on view and in tow in a lot near the Carolina Inn. Morris Motor Company was a British car manufacturing company that was subsequently incorporated into larger corporations. The Morris brand name remained until 1984 when British Leyland’s Austin Rover Group shifted its focus to the popular Austin brand.

Railroad stations often used these vehicles for luggage and petty shipments, hence the name "station wagon." Typically those with wood trim in the rear portion of the car were referred to as a  "woodie." In the 1960s & 1970s, California surfers were drawn to Morris vehicles because they were cheap and could cram a bunch of people and surfboards making the "woodie" the vehicle most commonly associated with a surfer.

(photograph taken near West Cameron Avenue & Ransom Street in Chapel Hill)