Two Mini
Garland Flugum
This distinctive two-door car was designed for BMC by Sir Alec Issigonis. It was manufactured at the Longbridge plant in Birmingham, England located next to BMC's headquarters and at the former Morris Motors plant at Cowley near Oxford, in the Victoria Park/Zetland British Motor Corporation (Australia) factory in Sydney, Australia, and later also in Spain (Authi), Belgium, Italy (Innocenti), Chile, Malta, Portugal, South Africa, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Yugoslavia (IMV).[20]
The Mini Mark I had three major UK updates: the Mark II, the Clubman, and the Mark III. Within these was a series of variations, including an estate car, a pick-up, a van, and the Mini Moke, a jeep-like buggy.
The performance versions, the Mini Cooper and Cooper "S", were successful as both race and rally cars, winning the Monte Carlo Rally in 1964, 1965, and 1967. In 1966, the first-placed Mini (along with nine other cars) was disqualified after the finish, under a controversial decision that the car's headlights were against the rules.[21]
In August 1959, the Mini was marketed under the Austin and Morris names, as the Austin Seven and Morris Mini-Minor.[22] The Austin Seven was renamed Austin Mini in January 1962[22] and Mini became a marque in its own right in 1969.[23][24] In 1980, it once again became the Austin Mini, and in 1988, just "Mini" (although the "Rover" badge was applied on some models exported to Japan).
BMW acquired the Rover Group (formerly British Leyland) in 1994, and sold the greater part of it in 2000, but retained the rights to build cars using the Mini name. Retrospectively, the car is known as the "Classic Mini" to distinguish it from the modern, BMW-influenced MINI family of vehicles produced since 2000.
The Mini came about because of a fuel shortage caused by the 1956 Suez Crisis.[25] Petrol was once again rationed in the UK, sales of large cars slumped, and the market for German bubble cars boomed, even in countries such as the United Kingdom, where imported cars were still a rarity.
The suspension system, designed by Issigonis's friend Alex Moulton at Moulton Developments Limited, used compact rubber cones instead of conventional springs. This space-saving design also featured rising progressive-rate springing of the cones, and provided some natural damping, in addition to the normal dampers. Built into the subframes, the rubber cone system gave a raw and bumpy ride accentuated by the woven-webbing seats, but the rigidity of the rubber cones, together with the wheels' positioning at the corners of the car, gave the Mini go kart-like handling.
Initially, an interconnected fluid system was planned, similar to the one that Alec Issigonis and Alex Moulton were working on in the mid-1950s at Alvis. They had assessed the mechanically interconnected Citron 2CV suspension at that time (according to an interview by Moulton with Car Magazine in the late 1990s),[citation needed] which inspired the design of the hydrolastic suspension system for the Mini and Morris/Austin 1100, to try to keep the benefits of the 2CV system (ride comfort, body levelling, keeping the roadwheel under good control and the tyres in contact with the road), but with added roll stiffness that the 2CV lacked. The short development time of the car meant this was not ready in time for the Mini's launch. The system intended for the Mini was further developed and the hydrolastic system was first used on the Morris 1100, launched in 1962; the Mini gained the system later in 1964. As launched, the Mini had simpler suspension made from conical springs of solid rubber. These were compact, saving on intrusion into the cabin space, and required no maintenance. The conical shape gave the springs a progressive action, becoming stiffer at greater degrees of compression. This gave the ADO15 a smooth ride over small bumps, but minimised roll and pitch on more uneven surfaces. It also allowed the springs to cope with the huge variance in load between an unladen car (about 600 kg or 1300 lb) and a fully laden one (just over 1000 kg or 2240 lb, or a 70% increase).
Ten-inch (254 mm) wheels were specified, so new tyres had to be developed, the initial contract going to Dunlop. Issigonis went to Dunlop stating that he wanted even smaller, 8 in (203 mm) wheels (even though he had already settled on 10-inch). An agreement was made on the 10-inch size, after Dunlop rejected the eight-inch proposition.
Many features were designed into the ADO15's interior to maximise its passenger and luggage space on top of the major savings allowed by the transverse engine and 10-inch wheels. Sliding windows allowed single-skin doors to be fitted, improving elbow room and reducing costs. A bracing bar was fitted across the door frame to brace the single skin and this was later adapted into a large storage bin on each door. Issigonis later said that he had sized the bins to carry the ingredients of his favourite drink, a dry martini[27] in the correct proportions (one bottle of vermouth and 2 of Gordon's Gin). Similar bins were provided outboard of the rear seats, also serving a dual function of bracing the single-skin body panel. Small items could also be stowed under the rear seats, and early Minis were sold with optional wicker baskets specially shaped to slot under the seats. The fixed rear parcel shelf contributed to the rigidity of the body shell, although it did preclude fitting the ADO15 with a hatchback. The boot lid was hinged at the bottom so that the car could be driven with it open to increase luggage space. On early cars, the number plate was hinged at the top so that it could swing down to remain visible when the boot lid was open. This feature was later discontinued after it was discovered that exhaust gases could leak into the cockpit when the boot was open.
The Mini was designed as a monocoque shell with welded seams visible on the outside of the car running down the A and C pillars, and between the body and the floor pan. Those that ran from the base of the A-pillar to the wheel well were described as 'everted' (lit., 'turned outward') to provide more room for the front seat occupants[citation needed]. To further simplify construction, the hinges for the doors and boot lid were mounted externally. This also saved a small amount of cabin space. It also made the ADO15 very easy to assemble from complete knock-down kits in overseas markets with only basic industry. Cars could be assembled with minimal use of jigs as the external seams made the panels largely 'self-aligning'. They also allowed panels to be stacked flat on top of one other for easy shipping. As originally built, all the structural body panels were welded to the top of the single floor pressing, but this caused major problems with water entering the cabin and was quickly changed in the first months of production.
Early prototypes were fully unitary in construction, but the cars broke apart under the high loads from the large lever ratios used with the rubber cone suspension. The design was changed to use steel subframes to carry the drivetrain and suspension for the front and rear. This also simplified production, as both subframes could be built up independently and then mated to the already-completed bodyshell. It also opened up the possibility of easily producing variants on the ADO15 as a body of any shape or design could be used provided it could accommodate the subframes.
The production version of the Mini was demonstrated to the press in April 1959, and by August, several thousand cars had been produced ready for the first sales.[36] The Mini was officially announced to the public on 26 August 1959. Some 2,000 cars had already been sent abroad and were displayed that day in almost 100 countries.[37] The key dimensions were:
The first example, a Morris Mini-Minor with the registration 621 AOK, is on display at the Heritage Motor Centre in Warwickshire.[39] Another early example from 1959 is on display at the National Motor Museum in Hampshire.[40]
Until 1962, the cars appeared in North America and France as the Austin 850 and Morris 850, and in Denmark as the Austin Partner (until 1964) and Morris Mascot (until 1981). It was introduced in Australia as Morris 850 only (not "Austin"), and then later as Morris Cooper and Morris Cooper S versions, as well. The Morris name Mini (Mini-Minor) was first used for Austin's version by BMC in 1961 when the Austin Seven was rebranded as the Austin Mini,[41] somewhat to the surprise of the Sharp's Commercials car company (later known as Bond Cars), who had been using the name Minicar for their three-wheeled vehicles since 1949. However, legal action was somehow averted,[42] and BMC used the name "Mini" thereafter.[43]
In 1964, the suspension of the cars was replaced by another Moulton design, the hydrolastic system. The new suspension gave a softer ride, but it also increased weight and production cost. In 1971, the original rubber suspension reappeared and was retained for the remaining life of the Mini.
The Mark II Mini was launched at the 1967 British Motor Show,[49] and featured a redesigned grille, a larger rear window and numerous cosmetic changes.[44][50][51] A total of 429,000 Mk II Minis were produced.
A variety of Mini types were made in Pamplona, Spain, by the Authi company from 1968 onwards, mostly under the Morris name. In 1969, a fibreglass version of the Mini Mark II was developed for British Leyland's Chilean subsidiary (British Leyland Automotores de Chile, S.A., originally the independent assembler EMSSA). The bodyshell mould was created by the Peel Engineering Company. Production began in 1970 and continued for a few years; these fibreglass Minis can be recognised by the missing body seams and by larger panel gaps. The Chilean market was never very large and the Arica plant was closed in 1974.[52] The reason for the fibreglass body was to enable Leyland to meet very strict requirements for local sourcing, increasing to 70.22% in 1971.[52]
The Mark III Mini had a modified bodyshell with enough alterations to see the factory code change from ADO15 to ADO20 (which it shared with the Clubman). The most obvious changes were larger doors with concealed hinges. Customer demand led to the sliding windows being replaced with winding windows, although all Australian-manufactured Mark I Minis had adopted this feature in 1965 (with opening quarterlight windows). The suspension reverted from hydrolastic to rubber cones[53] as a cost-saving measure.[54] (The 1275 GT and Clubman retained the hydrolastic system until June 1971, when they, too, switched to the rubber cone suspension of the original Minis.[53])
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