Many of us know the Austin "Mini" motor-car in its current luxury incarnation - a BMW in drag so to speak. Yet few know of the mini's humble beginnings and its influence that it has had on the auto trade far and wide.
In the beginning it seems that the venerable Austin Mini did not even have its later badge of fame - its moniker of "Mini". The vehicle was initially introduced as the Austin Se7en and the Morris ( not the Austin factory branded ) Mini-Minor. The only distinction between the Austin factory output model and the Morris branded product being not any major body or mechanical components only the badge and grill of the vehicles. Talk about a forerunner and pre telling of the auto industry trends to come. In later years when GM Auto engineers being asked the difference between a 1982 compact Cadillac Cimarron in 1982 and its General Motors cousins - the Chevrolet Cavalier, Buick Skyhawk, Oldsmobile Firenza, Pontiac J200 models would be told that in essence the only difference was in the price tag of the new vehicle at their local dealership. Its surprising that in the western prairie provinces of Canada car auto purchasing markets ,auto purchasers seem to prefer smaller import type cars such as or Volkswagen VW "bugs" & now the likes of South Korean Kia models. With the mountain , non-flat prairie terrains , you might think larger vehicles such as SUVs would rule the roost. Yet in Northwestern Ontario or the city of Winnipeg this may well be the case. Yet go up north the more rural rugged farming,mining & pulp & paper areas and you will see a lot more larger vehicles - trucks and large non-crossover Sports Utility Vehicles -on the roads and highways. Yet as people travel and even rent cars on their overseas trips they drive test & find alternative auto layouts and preferences to their pleasure.
Yet to its credit the mini was not only sort of cute - some called it ugly - but advanced simple standards of driver comforts yet to come in the future - for example map storage areas on the drivers and passenger doors - built solely & extensively for maps but deep enough to be used for carrying home even small grocery items. The first minis rolled off the assembly line in Britain on May 8 , 1959 and showed up on streets and highways shortly after during August 1959. It was even priced in British terms at less than $ 540 British Pounds Sterling - the American dollar equivalent being less than $ 1000.
Yet it was not until 1969 that the two distinct and different badges - the Morris and Austin badges on the vehicle production lines were dropped in favor of the one product - that came to be known simply as the famed "Austin Mini". The Austin Mini is seen by many in the vintage automotive , automotive history field as being the forerunner and design platform that the original Honda Civic small car economy line was based upon.
Hence it is no accident that the Austin Mini became such a favored and revered role model for future designs and implementations along the path of the development of smaller and more fuel efficient vehicles.
In the beginning it seems that the venerable Austin Mini did not even have its later badge of fame - its moniker of "Mini". The vehicle was initially introduced as the Austin Se7en and the Morris ( not the Austin factory branded ) Mini-Minor. The only distinction between the Austin factory output model and the Morris branded product being not any major body or mechanical components only the badge and grill of the vehicles. Talk about a forerunner and pre telling of the auto industry trends to come. In later years when GM Auto engineers being asked the difference between a 1982 compact Cadillac Cimarron in 1982 and its General Motors cousins - the Chevrolet Cavalier, Buick Skyhawk, Oldsmobile Firenza, Pontiac J200 models would be told that in essence the only difference was in the price tag of the new vehicle at their local dealership. Its surprising that in the western prairie provinces of Canada car auto purchasing markets ,auto purchasers seem to prefer smaller import type cars such as or Volkswagen VW "bugs" & now the likes of South Korean Kia models. With the mountain , non-flat prairie terrains , you might think larger vehicles such as SUVs would rule the roost. Yet in Northwestern Ontario or the city of Winnipeg this may well be the case. Yet go up north the more rural rugged farming,mining & pulp & paper areas and you will see a lot more larger vehicles - trucks and large non-crossover Sports Utility Vehicles -on the roads and highways. Yet as people travel and even rent cars on their overseas trips they drive test & find alternative auto layouts and preferences to their pleasure.
Yet to its credit the mini was not only sort of cute - some called it ugly - but advanced simple standards of driver comforts yet to come in the future - for example map storage areas on the drivers and passenger doors - built solely & extensively for maps but deep enough to be used for carrying home even small grocery items. The first minis rolled off the assembly line in Britain on May 8 , 1959 and showed up on streets and highways shortly after during August 1959. It was even priced in British terms at less than $ 540 British Pounds Sterling - the American dollar equivalent being less than $ 1000.
Yet it was not until 1969 that the two distinct and different badges - the Morris and Austin badges on the vehicle production lines were dropped in favor of the one product - that came to be known simply as the famed "Austin Mini". The Austin Mini is seen by many in the vintage automotive , automotive history field as being the forerunner and design platform that the original Honda Civic small car economy line was based upon.
Hence it is no accident that the Austin Mini became such a favored and revered role model for future designs and implementations along the path of the development of smaller and more fuel efficient vehicles.
About the Author:
From 1967 to 1979, Issigonis had been designing areplacement for the Mini in the form of an experimental model called the 9X. It was longer and more powerful than the Mini.
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