Journal: Nick Herwegh's Journal

Sprite and Midget bodies were made by three different firms. First the floor panel plus all stress bearing panels were pressed and assembled at the John Thompson Motor Pressings plant at Wolverhampton. Here these "tubs" received a number which is punched just below the large wiring loom entry on the right of the front bulkhead. The bodies then went to Swindon were the outer panels were pressed and attached. Here the "gender" of the car was decided: drilled wing and door panels for a Midget, undrilled for a Sprite. Here too the cars got their own unique body number: a number prefixed by "ABL" for the Sprites and "GBE" for Midgets. These were carried on a screwed-on plate in the left hand door hinge pillar. Again the now complete bodies went on transport this time to the Morris Bodies Branch at Cowley. Here they were sprayed and again on the back of a lorry brought to Abingdon for further assembly to complete cars. "Efficiency" was a word still to be invented or so it seems...