A Thing for Cars

On August 26,1959, Project ADO15 was launched by The British Motor Company (BMC).  Otherwise known as the Mini, this car would become an icon of the 1960s and, from then has enjoyed continued success in one guise or another.  Voted the second most influential car in history (after the Ford Model T) the design of the car allowed for eighty percent of its floor space to be used by passengers. 

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Ironically, this little motor owes its existence to a fuel crisis.  In 1956 the Suez Crisis brought about a fuel shortage in the UK.  The British, although they had been accustomed to rationing everything during the Second World War, found that because of the conflict over in Suez that fuel was once again scarce – and expensive.  Sales of car plummeted, but the market for the cheap and small German Bubble car boomed.  The then head of the BMC reportedly stated in a fit of uniquely British apoplexy ‘God damn these bloody awful Bubble Cars. We must drive them off the road by designing a proper miniature car’.

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The first Mini off the production line would never be sold and is so still in excellent condition (see above).  It is now kept at the Heritage Motor Center in the UK.  Before it got to this point, the measurements were laid down and a remarkably small design team (three designers, four draughtsmen and a couple of engineering students) got to work.  The economy of the car would mirror that of the size of the team that designed it.  By the end of 1957 they had already designed the proto-mini, which they labeled the ‘Orange Box’ because of its color. 

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By August 1959, the first cars were ready and before the end of the year the first one was even sold to the Englert family in Texas (see picture above).  The car quickly came to be thought of as quintessentially British (being manufactured in both the Longbridge and Cowley plants in England.  It wasn’t long, however, before factories also sprang up in Australia, Spain, Chile, Belgium Portugal and South Africa.  Even the Italians got in on the act (much to the chagrin of Fiat) where it was marketed as the Innocenti.  In Denmark it was marketed as The Partner (see below).

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So, was it a Morris or was it an Austin?  Well the Mini was marketed under both names for ten whole years.  It wasn’t until 1969 that it was branded in its own right.  For people who wanted a little more speed (boy racers of the time perhaps) the Cooper “S” and Mini Cooper were introduced as much sportier versions that were capable (and went onto) of winning the fabled Monte Carlo Rally.  Four times.  Part of the attraction of the Mini, having said this, was that it handled supremely well for a car of its size.  One of its designers, the legendary Issigonis said “I make my cars with such good brakes, such good steering, that if people get into a crash it’s their own fault”.

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The Mini continues to this day to be popular at rallies and championships, though it will never again reach the head heights of the sixties.  The one below was competing in the Historic Touring Car Race at Donnington in 2006. 

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The popularity of the vehicle was aided in no small part to its appearances in a number or movies and TV show.  It was featured in The Bourne Identity, and Larac Croft: Tomb Raider.  It has also appeared in many TV shows, including Mr Bean and The Prisoner.  However, it will be most remembered (on film at least) for the breathtaking getaway scenes in the 1969 movie The Italian Job.  The movie was remade in 2003 using a similar (ahem) vehicle.

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Although the sales were slow to begin with more than a million Mark I Minis were sold in the 1960s.  They were sold for a very small price – less almost than the cost of making them.  The Ford car company, in fact, bought one and deconstructed it, just to see if they could make a cheaper car.  They came to the conclusion that they couldn’t.  The Mini made its money really through what we would call today peripherals. 

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These were sold in order to accessorize the car and – this may surprise you – included such things as we would think of as standard today.  The laws of the time meant that cars could be sold without them, but the money came in from sales of such items as seat belts, heaters, radios and door mirrors – and extra lights.  It was really another time, another place!

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The Mini was cheap, had a simple design and was, considering the numbers made, ubiquitous.  This made it a candidate for body replacement and kit cars based on the car number over a hundred.  Even today, years after production of the original(s) has ceased, there are still plenty of spare parts to be had for races and enthusiasts in general.  In one shape or form the original Mini will go on for decades to come. Many, many shapes.

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In the sixties and seventies the Mini became a fashion statement, seen to be driven by many of the hippest celebrities of the era, including three out of four of The Beatles, Peter Sellers and Britt Ekland.  Many of the examples driven by celebrities were customized, a trait that would continue throughout the years, leading to occasional extremes.  To customize or not to customize, with apologies to Shakespeare, does not seem to be the question.

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The Mini Mark I lasted until 1967 and like Doctor Who, the car was to go through many reincarnations in the following decades, ending up with the Mark VII, launched in 1996.  Motor swaps in to old models are now commonplace, due to good handling and low weight of the car. 

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This souping up increases the speed of the Mini quite effectively!  So, why not go the whole hog – eventually the Mini convertible became available as well.  The Mini has always appealed to aficionados, young and old and the urge to modify seems irresistible.  The Minis below, seen racing in Birmingham (UK, not Alabama) were all aged between eleven and fourteen.  Boy racers, indeed!

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Although production of the Mini ceased in 2000, this was not the end of the story.  In a move that probably made the head of the British Motor Company spin in his grave, the German manufacturers BMW took over production in 2000 and quickly announced the BMW MINI (note the capital letters).  However, Leonard Lord, the old head of the BMC can rest easy in his grave.  It took the new German owners one month longer to roll of their one millionth MINI than it did to complete the same number of the original.

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So, Happy Anniversary to the original – and the best – and here’s to another fifty years!

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