Sometimes I’ll learn an automotive fact I wasn’t aware of before and realize that if I don’t tell someone about it, I might explode, messily and causing a lot of hassle for everyone. So, with that in mind, I’m going to lean on you, charming readers, because no humans in my house give a shit anymore and the dog and cats I’m starting to suspect are only humoring me about this stuff in the hopes that I’ll magically drop a sack of meatballs, or something. The fact is one revealed to me by a commenter named Vie on today’s Cold Start post: The British General Post Office – which had been running British mail and telephone service from 1660 to 1969 (well, I suspect the telephone service was more active near the end bits of that timeline) had special Morris Minor-based vans that used rubber front fenders. For some reason, this fact has captivated me.
Don’t believe me? Look!
See those odd, matte-finish black fenders? They’re rubber! I can’t think of any other car that used actual, deformable rubber as major body panels like this. Sure, there’s been plenty of plastics and rubber-coated materials, and rubber bumpers that may even form parts of fenders, but as far as a whole metal body panel being replaced with a rubber one, I think these GPO vehicles are the lone example. I could be wrong, and will be delighted to be shown so in the comments, but this is definitely an exclusive club.
The rubber-fender’d vans were Series II Morris Minors, as they had their headlights moved from out of the grille area like the first-generation ones, but differed from other Series II Minors design-wise because the headlights were not faired into the fenders, instead being separate, dune-buggy-style units that just perched atop their rubber fenders. This is likely because the rubber’s ability to deform would have likely popped out headlights that were inset into the fenders, something that could have made children cry, seeing a friendly GPO van with a headlamp-eye dangling by its optic nerves/wires.
These rubber fender vans were never made in huge numbers, and were gone, replaced by conventionally-bodied Morris Minor vans by 1955:
Rubber wings were fitted to the early GPO vans complete with headlights perched on top. This feature ceased during 1955 along with the primitive plywood facia dashboards that were fitted to these early pioneers. An observation on the rubber wings was that they all seemed to have the same dent in the nearside wing, always in the same place. An explanation that has been put forward suggests that the rubber wings were stored together prior to fitting, either at the factory or replacements at the GPO depots, the nearside bent inwards and the offside outwards, thus causing the indentation in exactly the same place!
I think this is the dent that was mentioned:
For rubber fenders that would seem to be immune from dents, it’s especially ironic that they seemed to all come with a starter dent pre-supplied from the factory! I guess so just in case there were any true dent-lovers, they wouldn’t feel left out by the dent-proof fenders.
As for why the GPO wanted rubber-fendered vans, some sources seem to suggest they were a part of a greater philosophy that emphasized safety and caution, based on other modifications the vans had:
The GPO/PO were also more cautious about health and safety, even in those days and insisted all vans carried first aid boxes and fire extinguishers. Rubber buffers were also fitted to the bonnet corners to avoid injuries and the wheels were held in place by double-sided nuts to ensure that they were never fitted incorrectly. They never used the dome glass lights, as they continued to use the flat type lens. The chassis was painted silver as any failure or cracks could easily be identified. Many other items can be added to the list, metal triangular inserts were screwed into the openings at the bottom of the rear doors, tax disc holders were attached to the dash as well as the fitting of mudflaps to the front and rear.
I’m so taken by the rubber fender concept because I have a vivid memory from when I was 16, and had just bashed one of the fenders of my ’71 VW Super Beetle on the way to my after-school job selling and installing Apple //e computers. I remember sitting at a table and drawing ideas for rubber fenders I could possibly have made and replaced my vulnerable painted metal ones with, but my co-workers thought I was an idiot. Well, continued to think. 
If only I knew then that decades ago the British Post Office had the same idea! That would have showed them, all of them!
I imagine that rubber fenders were a lot more forgiving of parking scrapes and made fender benders quite literal but with almost zero consequences, and should a distracted phone technician bump into you while trying to park, a rubber fender would likely cause a lot less damage than a metal one, whether you were driving or being a pedestrian. That all fits with what appears to be the GPO’s very safety-oriented modus operandi, with little rubber protectors on bonnet corners and probably those plastic things inserted into electrical outlets, if they had any. Were they hiring toddlers as phone technicians?
(pictures: Heritage Machines, British Motoring Icons)
Anticipating the Honda Element’s novel look.
I actually used to be a phone technician and my truck once got walloped by an old guy backing out of his driveway, pretty much right on the fender. So this would have been very useful since, as I was told, “Nobody ever parks there! Why would I look?”
It also made-do without a heater! Workers were prone to stay in the car if there was a heater!
The nearest comparison that I can think of is the rubber body kit that @jaredpink is putting on a 300xz drift car on YT Wrench Every Day … if he ever gets back to it. Yes, thick butyl rubber fenders, bumpers, fender flares, and other bits.
The day of Morris Minors I guess. Earlier today I saw a Morris Minor pickup parked in a yard for sale in Oregon City, Oregon; then I come home to read this.
There is a Morris Minor in my home town with “Morrie” personalized plates. It really stands out in modern traffic.
I have been useful I see.
This pushes all sorts of buttons for me: odd, obscure, and vehicular personality for days. I covet a battered one to rally.
Rubber British buggy bumpers…
Stop that.
We need more cars built like this. Bring back fenders and useable bumpers!
I’m pretty sure the factory that made those fenders now makes rear bumpers for the Toyota Camry.
I was thinking about dent-resistant material while waiting in a long line at the dump this past weekend. Me, driving a ’94 Ford Ranger with steel bumpers, stuck behind a late-model Mercedes SUV with a sub that I could feel in the truck behind them. I had the thought, several times (unacted upon) that I could quickly and easily do about $14,000 worth of damage to that stupid SUV’s rear end letting the clutch slip (oops!) which probably wouldn’t even leave a scratch on the Ranger.
I AM a good person, I swear.
::extremely Jerry Seinfeld voice:: why don’t they make the *whole car* out of bumpers?
Same Jerry voice… “Today I’m driving a very special Morris Minor and we’re heading over to pick up my good friend Martin Short. Stay with us for Comedians in Rubber Cars Getting Coffee!”
I like how this is the most obvious solution to fender benders.
Dune buggy headlights? In 1955?
More like tractor headlights or most prewar cars. I’m pretty sure that no one ever looked at a 1963 Imperial and thought “dune buggy” for that matter.
Back in the ’60s Pontiac advertised the Endura front bumper with an ad showing lab-coated guys taking turns whacking the Pontiac Endura nose with crowbars. No dents. Was Endura rubber? I don’t know. Probably kinda.
I believe Endura was some sort of polyurethane, GM also had a lot of trouble getting paint to bond to it properly (much like Ford does with sheet metal today), so the bumper would bounce back into shape, but, do it a few too many times, and the paint would crack and flake off.
Basically, the same material as the later rubber nose MGBs – those were originally intended to be painted body color (colour, in this case), but BL ran into the same issue GM had with paint adhesion, and decided to just skip it entirely and leave them plain black, like those old Morris Minor fenders.
Aren’t the Bronco Dino-Lizard’s oversized fenders rubber (or something of that ilk that will allow deformation?)
The later C3 Corvette had polyurethane bumpers. Not sure that counts. Everyone likes to call them rubber, but I don’t think it’s the same thing that Morris used. Awesome find!
The heavy rubber bumpers proved to be unpopular with the postal workers because they increased the 0-60 time to 29 seconds.
I’ll stick to my local products if I want rubber or plastic on on the car sides.
I bet those headlights danced all over the place on a bumpy road.
I was thinking about that; there must be a steel mounting bracket under there, but still.
That is what I was thinking framing too.
I once has a bicycle saddle that was steel framed like a Brooks tensioned leather saddle, but was rubber and branded Dunlop, Made in England. Not particularly comfortable, but darn near indestructible. The pictures of the GPO Morris front mudguards have a Dunlop smell.
The Morris Minor was built like a tank anyway with thick metal and would survive crashes better than the human beans rattling around inside.
The Denfeld saddles on old BMW motorcycles work like that. Basically an oversized bicycle seat with a thick piece of textured rubber over steel springs. As an aside Brooks’ recently introduced Cambium line are rubber versions of the classic Brooks.
I’ve got one of those Brooks saddles, its not bad, but I think I like the leather version better
The glass and the fenders. Two things on a Morris that wouldn’t rust.
Please don’t drop dead in your house with the dogs and cats. After three days the dogs will eat you, starting with the fingers. After three hours the cats will eat you, starting with your face. Scientific fact. The dog told me.