The resulting small, front-wheel-drive Morris Mini Minor proved to be such a hit that it stayed in production for over 40 years without getting completely redesigned.
With Cooper's development, Morris churned out the Mini Cooper S with twice the power and better brakes. The better-performing Mini managed to dominate various rallies in the s. The Mini did go through some minor updates over the years and gained additional models like the Mini Van, Mini Countryman and Mini Pickup. It had to be as easy to drive and nippy in heavy traffic as its predecessors, not just a road-legal rally car.
The Mini at Longbridge had replaced the Austin A34 of which over , vans and estate versions had been built so it was a no-brainer that there would be a Mini replacement of some sort. Trying to turn such a small car into an estate car of any use meant making it 10in longer and considerably heavier to ensure the load capacity had some benefit.
Issoginis had drawn up plans for a longer wheelbase some time before the MkII was launched, eventually using it for the estates, vans and pick-ups. In the summer of the vans and the estates were first launched.
The front end of them was identical to the saloon with the big change being made to the box-like rear to create either an estate or just a van. The main difference between the two was that the van had a metal floor whereas the estate had a rear bench seat. Later on, BMC announced an option to have the bench seat fitted in the vans as well but there would be no rear windows.
Both had two half-doors rather than the single door more commonly found on estates and the polished wood on the estates was just purely for show. All were decked out to the same standard as the De Luxe saloon with a heater and screen washers coming as standard. The rear side windows were also lockable and there was a removable floor panel over the spare wheel as well. The earlier models had a roof vent but this was removed in with the exception of some special-orders.
Although the van was designed to be a commercial vehicle, the handling was as good as the saloon and as cheap to run.
Because it was also cheap to buy, the Mini van became an extremely popular car, being sold right up until the early Eighties. The pick-up came with the option of a canvas tilt cover and had a 20sq ft load platform. The first ones featured a full-width rear bumper but by this was swapped in favour of the two quarter-bumpers that came as standard on the van.
The Morris Mini K was produced in Australia and restricted to sales in that market. It was produced until The dates of production of the Morris Mini are considered to be All cars after that date are considered to be Minis.
Morris seats were set in black and black-fleck upholstery. Cooperman, do you have the spec for the conversion? Is the conversion mainly the wheels, tires, brakes, and engine parts? Does it need any changes to the exterior body? What is the speed of the Cooper S spec car? Would it be possible to modified the cc engine to perform 60s in mid to high 6s and a top speed of mph?
Or am I kidding myself? We won the historic rally and got 11th in the combined results. Not the best result ever, but not too bad. Didn't bend the car either! I'll do it tomorrow for you. Cooperman said: snip Now, that is the sort of purist attitude you contend with if you build a Cooper 'S' from an By their own admission the works cars were re-shelled, had licence plates and brand designations swapped from event to event etc.
A case of "grandpa's hammer" if ever there was one. They say to be copied is the sincerest form of flattery. If you want to make an S replica then go ahead. Miniholic posts months. Coopers all had the remote change. The holes is square and is in the side of the tunnel, not sure about the body mods where the wand would go though.
It was out of print for a while, but I think it is avaiolable again check out your local library, mine had it. The and Cooper diff covers are very different and one cannot be modified to take the place of the other. Also the diff cover is a matched part of the overall transmission, although it has been known for these parts to be swapped without any problems.
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