The Mini is one of the greatest designs of automobile engineering and one of the classic designs of the twentieth century. Its designer was Sir Alec Issigonis, (1906-1988), born in Smyrna, Turkey, who, in 1936, joined the Morris Motor Design Team (which would later become the BMC) as a Suspension designer. During the Second World War, he commences the design of a compact car, which would become the Morris Minor, which was launched in 1948 with great success. In 1950 Issigonis experimented with a Morris minor prototype with front wheel drive which was discarded, but later the idea would be used in the Mini.

In March 1957 Issigonis focused on the production of a compact car with the only requisite being the use of already existent BMC parts to reduce costs. The idea was to build a small-dimension vehicle with capacity for four adults and their respective luggage. It was to have independent suspension on all four wheels, transverse engine, front wheel drive and with the gearbox under the crankshaft, working this way, as a sole unit, radiator to the left, reducing dimensions notably to a 3.05m width by 1.41m in length, and 1.35m tall. The Engine used was the veteran A-Series, used in the Austin A37 Models and the Morris Minor. Issigonis established the dimensions of the Mini's interior by sitting his wife and children on chairs in his kitchen, two in front and two behind, and then basically designed the car around them.

The Morris Mini Minor was first shown to the press in August, 1959, creating a wave of interest and anticipation within the public. The car was released as the Austin Seven and Morris Minor (later it would change to Morris Mini), he Wolseley Hornet and Riley Elf. The name Wolseley Hornet was a revival of one first used on a 1930s sports car, while the name Elf recalled the Riley Sprite and Imp sports cars, also of the 1930s.

Initially the pair used the 848 cc engine, changing to a single carburettor version of the Cooper's 998 cc power unit in the MkII in 1963. The MKIII facelift of 1966 brought wind-up windows (developed by Australian engineers at the Zetland plant in suburban Sydney for the Aussie Mini) and concealed door hinges two years before these were seen on the mainstream Mini. 30,912 Riley Elfs and 28,455 Wolseley Hornets were built.

The Morris Mini Traveller and the Austin Mini Countryman were two-door estates (station wagons)  with double "barn"-style rear doors. Both were built on a slightly longer chassis (2.14 m) compared to 2.04 m for the saloon. The Mini Van was a commercial panel van. The Mini Pick-up (1961–82) was a utility (ute) derivative, also built on the longer chassis but with a flatbed and a tailgate.

Austin Mini Countryman	Riley Elf

The Mini Moke (right) was a bizarre but very practical jeep look-alike that was first designed  for the British Army that had been developed in Australia. Without good ground clearance or four-wheel drive (the Mk II version was given bigger wheels), it initially proved unsuitable for military use, although it enjoyed popularity in civilian production which began in 1966. About 50,000 Mokes were produced. The Mini Moke featured in the cult 1967 TV series The Prisoner and has proved popular in holiday locations such as Barbados and Macau, where Mokes were used as police cars and could be rented as recently as March 2006. In 1973, the Moke Californian, which had a floral top, was introduced. There was utility version in 1979 and the Moke continued in production until 1981, when the tools were sold to Portugal.

In October 1967 the MkII was introduced, which had a wider rear screen, a larger front grille, rectangular taillights. Two years later it was released in Mk III form. The most notorious changes occur in the front doors - instead of sliding they now wound down, an innovation that had been developed a few years earlier in Australia. The Clubman of 1969 was a relatively unsuccessful attempt to modernise the mini. At that time there was an attempt to replace it in Britain with the Austin Mini Metro.

About 212,000 Minis were sold in Australia. The 1275 LS was the last Mini made by Leyland Australia; it had 12-inch wheels and a 1275cc engine. Australian production of Minis ceased in October 1978. The BMC-based Mini was withdrawn from worldwide production on 18th September 2000; it's successor, BMW New Mini Cooper was launched in 2001.


BMW Mini Cooper