History of the Classic Mini, Part 3 of 7
The Mark I Mini: 1959–1967
The first production version of the Mini Mark I was demonstrated to the press in April 1959, and by August several thousand cars had been produced ready for the first sales.
Sold at almost below cost, the basic Mini made very little money for its owners. However, it still did make a small profit.
The name Mini did not appear by itself immediately—the first models being marketed under two of BMC’s brand names, Austin and Morris. The name Austin Seven (sometimes written as SE7EN in early publicity material) recalled the popular small Austin 7 of the 1920s and 1930s.
The other name used until 1967 in the United Kingdom (and in Commonwealth countries such as Australia), Morris Mini-Minor, seems to have been a play on words. The Morris Minor was a well known and successful car, with the word minor being Latin for “smaller”; so an abbreviation of the Latin word for “smallest”—minimus—was used for the new even smaller car. It was originally going to be called the Austin Newmarket.
The Mini etched its place into popular culture in the 1960s with well-publicised purchases by film and music stars.
Until 1962, the cars appeared as the Austin 850 and Morris 850 in North America and France, and in Denmark as the Austin Partner (until 1964) and Morris Mascot (until 1981). The name Mini was first used domestically by BMC for Austin’s version in 1961, when the Austin Seven was rebranded as the Austin Mini, somewhat to the surprise of the Sharps Commercials car company (later known as Bond Cars Ltd) who had been using the name Minicar for their three-wheeled vehicles since 1949. However, legal action was somehow averted, and BMC used the name Mini thereafter.
In 1964, the suspension of the cars was replaced by another Moulton design, the hydrolastic system. The new suspension gave a softer ride but it also increased weight and production cost and, in the minds of many enthusiasts, spoiled the handling characteristics for which the Mini Mark I was so famous.
In 1965, the option of an Automotive Products (AP) designed four-speed automatic transmission became available. Cars fitted with this became the Mini-Matic.
In 1971, the original rubber suspension reappeared and was retained for the remaining life of the Mini.
Slow sales and profits at the outset for the Mini Mark I strengthened across most of the model lines in the 1960s
Larger profits came from the popular De Luxe models and from optional extras such as seat belts, door mirrors, a heater and a radio, which would be considered necessities on modern cars, as well as the various “Cooper” and “Cooper S” models.
Mini Mark I Production totalled 1,190,000.
History continues with part 4 of 7: The Mini MK II
Sources:
www.wikipedia.org
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