Morris mini | Overview of the classic mini | Design, History and Generations

 Classic MINI

Today we will talk about the best selling British car of all time YES we are talking about MINI. We all are familiar with this name as it hold's a nostalgic history.

Austin mini

The vintage mini is a small but reliable 2 door car with 4 people seating capacity. It was launched and produced by British Motor Corporation BMC in 1959 and remained in production till 2000.  

Story

The story behind MINI lead us back to 1956 when SUEZ Crises took place and Petrol was once again became rationed in UK. Due to petrol crises the sale of big gas guzzlers dropped and market of German bubble cars boomed even in UK where imported cars where rarely seen. Many small cars were catching the market. This was the time when Autocratic Head of BMC Leonard Lord gave the idea of a proper miniature car for the country. Sir Alec Issigonis (Designer of Morris Minor) was given this task of producing a small 2 door family car. He was a brilliant car designer as he dived into the task of designing a miniature car with enough room to carry 4 adults. Issigonis gathered his team and by working day and night finally they came up with a design in JULY 1957 which they named as XC9003 prototype due to it's orange color it was also named as the "ORANGE BOX". After BMC approved it the production began on 19th of  JULY and it named as project ADO15. Company launched it's two models the "Austin 7" and the "Morris Mini Minor". They had to wait because no specific date was given to them by the company In AUGUST 1959 several cars had been produced ready for their sale but they had to wait until 26 August 1959 when it was officially launched to the public. It was a huge success as in a couple of months its sales boomed it was a great thing for the company 

Austin seven

Morris mini minor

Design & Engine

 Layout of MINI

BMC MINI was no doubt a masterpiece of British engineering as it was the first car in which engine was transversely placed in order to minimize the car's front end transmission was placed in the oil sub under the engine. The radiator was mounted on the left side of the car so that the engine mounted fan could be retained with the reversed pitch it blew air in the natural low pressure area of the car which is under the front wing. Although it had a disadvantage that the radiator could not be fed with the required amount of air to cool it down. Earlier prototype models of mini had 948cc engine but due to its cost it was not used , Instead a new 848cc engine was introduced with a top speed of 75mph. This not only improved its stability and handling but was also better than other  economical car's of the time. As it was a tiny car so for the suspension they used rubber cones along with trumpets like livers all fitted in a subframe this not only provided the car with good road handling but was also economical at the time. Tiny 10 inch wheels were given to the original mini and they even putted the weld marks on the outside to maximize the interior space. These combined innovations produced a tiny car that can still carry 4 Adults. It was small on the outside but bigger in the inside the MINI was truly first of its kind.

MARK 1 (1959-1967)

Mark 1 MINI remained in the production from 1959 to 1967 with engines 848cc,998cc,1071cc and 1275cc.It came in different body styles like 

• 2 door saloon
• 2 door estate
• 2 door van
• 2 door pickup

In 1964 a new suspension was introduced which gave a softer ride but it increased the car's overall weight and most importantly production cost which was bad for the company Later in 1971 they changed the system back to it's original state.

MARK 2 (1967-1970)

In 1967 MARK II MINI was launched which had larger windows and  large rear lights. Body styles remained same in mark2 but 1071cc engine was minus in this variant. It remained in production till 1970.

MARK 3 (1969-1976)

Mark III was launched in 1969 with a bigger body shell and larger doors with concealed hinges. In 1974 Heater was also introduced in the rover mini

Mr Bean's MINI

Mr Bean also had a green colored mini which we all know had a special lock system.

MARK 4 (1976-1983) 

In 1976 MARK IV was introduced it came with a 1098cc engine option In this version many things were upgraded such as a rubber mounted subframe with single tower bolts was mounted at the front and larger bushings were introduced in the rear frame in order to reduce noise level and to improve the car's mechanical refinement. Twin column stalks for indicators and wipers were also introduced along with large foot pedals and reverse lights in rear light clusters. In July 1979 the basic mini 850 was replaced with two models one was slightly lower while the other was higher in price having the same engine. It was called MINI city  which had black bumpers, part-fabric seats, wing mirror, sun visor on the driver side along with boot badge and "city" body graphics. IN 1978 MINI was one of the key cars which was available to disabled motorists. British leyland mini (Mark 4) remained in production till 1983.

 MARK 5 (1984-1990)

All MARK 5 MINI had 8.4 inches discs with the same body shell as MARK 4. In 1984 on MINI's 25th Anniversary British Leyland introduced a limited edition model "MINI 25"

MARK 6 (1990-1996)

These MINI's only had one engine option 1275cc as 998cc engines were discontinued. Some of its international models had fiber glass shells. However in 1992 an internal bonnet released was fitted. In 1996 it's production was stopped.

MARK 7 (1996-2000)

MINI MARK 7 

Classic mini pickup

This was the final version of the rover mini it had twin point injection system with front mounted radiator along with full depth dashboard and internal bonnet release. An airbag was also introduced in this final version on the driver side but all things had to end one day just like this the production of the original mini was ended on October 2000. It was truly an icon as it remained in production for 41 Years. Salute to this icon

VARIANTS of  Classic MINI

As the MINI was so popular many models were introduced to target different markets these were

Classic mini pick up

MINI Pick-up

There was also a pick up variant of the classic mini which was introduced in 1961. It was used as a small commercial vehicle only 58,179 were total made. It was discontinued in 1983 

Wolseley Hornet and Riley Elf 

Riley Elf  and Wolseley Hornet MINI

It remained in production from 1961 to 1969. These were the more luxurious Variants of the austin mini with a longer, slightly finned rear wing the bumpers and the front radiator grill

along with the indicators design was also changed in these variants. Riley was more expensive than the hornet variant. They both had great sales.

      

Austin Mini countryman and Morris Mini Traveler

austin mini countryman

From 1961 to 1969 came 2 long variants of the old mini. fuel tank was located under the left hand side of
the lower load area in the earlier models of austin mini countryman and morris mini traveler. These were 2 door estate cars with rear double barn style doors with a distinctive wooden look. Approximately 108,000 austin countryman's while 99,000 morris mini travelers were built.

MINI van

mini van

It was a commercial van with a load capacity of 1/4 ton builded on a long chassis remained very successful during it's run from 1960-1983. The first version didn't come with side windows but later in 1970's an estate van version with rear side windows was introduced.

 

MINI Moke

1967 Austin Mini Moke

Came to roll from 1964 to 1989 the mini moke was a vehicle builded for the army it came with twin engine 4 wheel drive but sadly could not be used as a military vehicle due to low ground clearance. Although single engine 4WD Moke enjoyed some popularity. 50,000 Austin Mini moke were total made and it's big markets were holiday locations eg Macau.

MINI austin cooper and austin cooper s

1965 mini austin cooper s

Racing car builder and designer John Cooper who was also a friend of issigonis saw the potential in MINI that it's unique combination of front wheel drive and wheel at each corner can give it superb rally handling so he persuaded the company to allow him to make a MINI for rally and in 1961 mini Austin copper was launched which had large inlet valves and the engine was race tuned with which it can now get the car from 0-60 in just 10 seconds. It was a huge success as it won 3 rallies. In 1965 mini cooper s was introduced which had a 1071cc engine with large disc brakes. These variants remained in production till 1971. but in 1990 it was re launched till 2000.

MINI clubman and 1275 GT
  

In 1969 MINI was given a facelift under the owner ship of British Leyland know as austin mini clubman main intention behind this variant was to replace it with Riley. It came with a basic 998cc engine but later 1275cc engine was also introduced in clubman which is also dubbed as 1275gt, It remained in production till 1980.

mini clubman classic