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.
Initially the car was released in two almost identical variations – an Austin badged product , and an identical product introduced into the marketplace as a “Mini Minor”. It seems that the two products were produced at two different factories and divisions in the U.K. – the Austin and Morris automotive factories. Part of this decision were production allotments – some centered on consumer marketing preferences. Just as in Canada and in the US where similar products from different automotive divisions of the same manufacturers had downright die hard fans and loyalists. In the same way that some auto buyers and consumers were die-hard Ford or Mercury “men”, while others preferred similar Pontiac products over Chevy branded autos – auto enthusiasts might swear by their nearly identical Austin Se7en’s or Morris Mini-Minors.
The Austin Mini – as the product eventually came to be known as – entered full and single factory product name and one single solitary car “badge”, at the end of the 1960′s decade. Now it was the Austin “Mini” and nothing but. Yet the Mini has had not one form – unlike the Ford Model T – that came in any color you wanted as long as it was black. The mini itself has come in many differing and varied forms – from the standard 2 door Saloon , to “Club” station wagons. Many of the cars were painted with one color for the body, and then a white roof. Owner’s of the vehicles , ever loyal , formed clubs and gave gentle honks of recognition to each other while driving on the roads and highways.
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.
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