North Bay British Car Club
INTRODUCTION
- Cooper Mini
The mini was designed by Sir Alec
Issigonis, one of the greatest and most inspired motor engineers of the 20th
Century. He joined Morris Motors on 1936, at the age of 30, and was responsible
for the design of the Morris Minor. In his final years at Morris, he designed
and built a transverse engine front wheel drive prototype of the Minor, before
leaving to join Alvis. He returned to Morris (then merged to form the British
Motor Corporation, BMC) in 1955. In 1957 he set about designing a small, economical
car for post-war Britain, to compete with the Messerschmitt "Bubble cars".
Incredibly, in 1959, the car was built that we know today. This was the first
car with a front wheel drive, transverse engine mounted in the front, and was
also innovative in that it was the only car in the world at that time to have
suspension formed not from steel springs, but from a rubber spring system, devised
by Alex Moulton with Issigonis during his time at Alvis. The Mini had arrived.
Mk 1 Austin Se7en, distinguishable by its vertical bumper guards.
The mini was first launched as the "Austin Se7en", and the "Morris
Mini Minor". The first variant, a van, was launched in 1960, with a pick-up
version launched in 1961. The van lead to the "Morris Mini Minor Traveller"
(also Austin Se7en Countryman), or the "Woody", as it is fondly known
today. Also in 1961, the first Cooper was produced. Later, in 1963, the Cooper's
engine was changed from 997cc to 998cc, making it smoother, and much more torquey.
More importantly, the 1071cc Cooper S arrived in March of the same year.
Then, in 1964, the S engine range was totally revamped, with new 970cc and 1275cc
blocks arriving on the scene. The more important of these was the 1275, which
produced 79 lb ft at 3000 rpm. The 970 lasted until 1965, but the 1275 survived
until 1971 in Mk2, and then Mk3 guise. A total of 40,652 were built.
The only other Mini variant to be produced under the BMC banner was the Mini-Moke,
a jeep like vehicle originally designed for the armed forces.
Many other variants were being produced at this time, by assembly plants worldwide,
particularly by the Italian firm Innocenti, and in South Africa and Australia.
Now under the British Leyland banner, in 1967 the mini received it's first major
revamp, with a wider rear windscreen, revised rear light clusters, and a new
grille being the major cosmetic differences.
In 1969, the Mini Clubman was launched. It had a restyled and longer bonnet,a
new dashboard, and, new for Minis, wind up front windows. The Mini estates (woodies)
were replaced by the the Clubman estate, a car renowned for it's rust problems.
Importantly though, the Cooper and Cooper S were axed to give way to the 1275GT,
witha single carb, 59bhp engine.
1275GT
A month later the short nose minis received the clubman's wind up windows, and
lost their Austin or Morris identities to become just plain Minis. These cars,
with matt black grilles, unofficially became known as the Mark 3s.
There were very few changes to the mini throughout the 70's, but Issigonis was
always planning a replacement. With the introduction of the Metro in 1980 many
assumed that this was the direct replacement for the Mini. BL stressed that
this was not the case, and in August 1980 the Mini City was given a new 1000cc
engine. With the launch of the metro, the Clubman saloon and 1275GT were axed,
and in 1981 the Mini 1000 and Clubman estate were given improved equipment and
renamed Mini HL. In 1982, the estate car was deleted.
During the 80's and 90's the lack of major changes to the Mini prompted many
special editions, the Italian Job, Red Hot, Jet Black, and Anniversary editions
being the first to come to mind. Then, in 1990, Rover re-released the Cooper,
with the 1.3i engine. The new car straight away formed about 40% of the total
new mini market. A brand new Cooper S Works was released to conclude production,
tuned by John Cooper Cars to be a real performance spec car.
Presently, we are all trying to get used to the new BMW mini, or MINI
as they would like us to call it. Most people have made up their minds as to
whether they like or loathe the new car, with the decision being a 50/50 split
in recent surveys. There is no doubting the MINI is an excellent car in it's
own right, but few would argue that it has the same character and cute factor
of the original. However, the impending release of a new 160bhp Cooper S may
be about to change many minds.
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