William Richard Morris, Lord Nuffield, an astute businessman and mechanic, produced the first small economical car to be produced in large numbers. His special talent enabled him to contain the right parts and to assemble them, and so the first Morris Oxford car appeared in 1913.

William Richard Morris, later Lord Nuffield, rose from humble beginnings to become one of Britain's leading industrialists and philanthropists, and it is to his career that Oxford's industrial standing can largely be attributed. Having established his own cycle business nine months after leaving school at fourteen, he quickly developed plans for a small, high quality car that could be mass-produced – and so the first Morris Oxford appeared in 1913. The boom of the 1920s made Morris a millionaire and peer, and it was not long before he had embarked upon a program of philanthropy that would see him give away over £30,000,000, much of it to hospitals and other medical causes. He also financed the establishment of Nuffield College, Oxford, which bears his title. His name ceased to appear on motorcars in 1983, when Morris Motors became part of British Leyland, but the MG (Morris Garages) badge has survived as a fitting memorial.