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The Mini is the name of a rather petite car produced from 1959 to 2000, and the name of a newer one known as New MINI launched in 2001. 1959 was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...
2000 is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
2001 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Original Mini
Prototype Mini and one of Issigonis's original concept sketches | | | | | | |
1970 Mini Clubman showing facelifted squarer design. The car reverted to the original rounder design in the 1980s |
Mini Cabriolet special edition | The original Mini (1959-2000) was a revolutionary and characterful small car designed for the British Motor Corporation (BMC) by Alec Issigonis (later Sir) (1906-1988) and made in Birmingham. prototype mini and original Issigonis concept sketch, issued copyright free by company press office File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
prototype mini and original Issigonis concept sketch, issued copyright free by company press office File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
1985 Mini, by Rick Dikeman. ...
1985 Mini, by Rick Dikeman. ...
1968 Riley Elf Mk3 seen at Filton Golf Club, Filton, Bristol, England. ...
1968 Riley Elf Mk3 seen at Filton Golf Club, Filton, Bristol, England. ...
1968 Austin Mini Cooper (988 cc), at a Classics Rally, Bristol, England, in October 2003. ...
1968 Austin Mini Cooper (988 cc), at a Classics Rally, Bristol, England, in October 2003. ...
Mini Clubman - press release photograph issued by company copyright free File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
Mini Clubman - press release photograph issued by company copyright free File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
Download high resolution version (1100x700, 76 KB)Mini Cabriolet. ...
Download high resolution version (1100x700, 76 KB)Mini Cabriolet. ...
A small variety of cars, the most popular kind of automobile. ...
The British Motor Corporation (BMC) was a car company, formed by the merger of the Austin and Morris companies in 1952. ...
Sir Alec Issigonis (1906-1988) was a designer of cars, now remembered chiefly for the development of the Mini in 1959. ...
The city from above Centenary Square. ...
The car used a conventional four-cylinder water-cooled engine but mounted transversely and driving the front wheels. This innovation allowed much increased passenger space in a small body. The result was nimble, economical, and inexpensive. Almost all small cars built since the 1970s have followed this mechanical layout. Another innovation was the use of exterior welded seams, which permitted the car to be built more cheaply using manual labour. Despite this the Mini had to be sold at less than its production cost so that it could compete with its rivals in terms of price. Arc welding Welding is a joining process that produces coalescence of materials (typically metals or thermoplastics) by heating them to welding temperature, with or without the application of pressure or by the application of pressure alone, and with or without the use of filler materials. ...
The early Minis had an unusual suspension system, which used rubber cones instead of conventional shock absorbers, leading to a rather raw and bumpy ride. This was briefly replaced by the hydrolastic suspension in the 1970's. However this increased weight and production cost and did little to improve ride or handling. Consequently the original rubber suspension was re-introduced. Hydragas is a type of automotive suspension system used in many cars produced by British Leyland and its successor companies. ...
Designed as project ADO15 (ADO indicating Austin Design Office), the Mini was originally called both the Austin Seven (also known as Se7en) and Morris Mini Minor, but later Mini became a brand in its own right. The Austin Motor Company was founded in Longbridge, Birmingham by Herbert Austin, the former manager of the Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Company in 1905. ...
Morris was the name of a former English car manufacturing company. ...
The car owed some of its success to its "classlessness", it was designed for the masses, yet members of the Beatles and even HM Queen Elizabeth II owned one. The Beatles (L-R, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, John Lennon), in 1964, performing on The Ed Sullivan Show during their first United States tour, promoting their first U.S. hit song, I Want To Hold Your Hand. ...
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary) (born 21 April 1926), styled HM The Queen, is the Queen regnant and Head of State of the United Kingdom, as well as the Queen of Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea...
Between 1961 and 1969 there was also a version of the Mini produced with a more substantial boot (trunk). This was badged as both the Wolseley Hornet (reviving a sports car name from the 1930s) and the Riley Elf. The Mini itself could be bought in a variety of body styles: the standard two-door; two versions of estate-car (or station-wagon) with double "barn-door" style rear doors, the Traveller (all metal) and the Countryman (a "woodie" version of the Traveller but with wooden exterior trim similar to that available on the Morris Minor - this "half-timbered" styling is something uniquely, and, according to some, bizarrely, British) and two commercial derivatives; the van (as the estate-car but without side-windows) and the pick-up. Wolseley can mean: Wolseley plc, A British company formerly known for car manufacture, now active in other areas Wolseley, Saskatchewan, Canada Wolseley, a provincial electoral district in Manitoba, Canada Wolseley, South Africa, a town in the Western Cape Province of South Africa This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid...
Riley was a British motorcar manufacturer, and had earlier been a cycle manufacturer. ...
A woodie is a wooden roller coaster. ...
The Morris Minor was launched at the Earls Court Motor Show on 20 September 1948, and attracted immediate attention as a completely new model with a revolutionary design. ...
Bill Bryson (born December 8, 1951) is a best_selling American author of humorous books on travel, as well as no less humorous, though heavily criticized books (by some) on the English language. ...
The 1960s saw the heyday of the car, with well-publicised purchases by movie and music stars, Mini Cooper victories in rallies, a starring role in a major film (The Italian Job), spin-off models including commercial vehicles, an estate, and the jeep-like Mini Moke. Sales were strong, but the car never made much money for its makers. Indeed, it is thought that due to an accounting error the car had been incorrectly priced originally and each sale made a loss for the company. Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s - 1960s - 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s Years: 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 Events and trends The 1960s was a turbulent decade of change around the world. ...
The Mini Cooper was a development of the original British Motor Corporation Mini. ...
Rallying (international) or rally racing (US) is a form of automobile racing that takes place on normal roads with modified production or specially built road cars. ...
The Italian Job is a British comedy caper film, directed by Peter Collinson and written by Troy Kennedy Martin. ...
Jeep is an automobile marque of DaimlerChrysler. ...
mini Mokes packed up for export The Mini Moke is an open car based on the Austin Mini, designed by Sir Alec Issigonis. ...
Issigonis tried to replace the Mini with an experimental model called the 9X. It was shorter and more powerful than the Mini, but due to politicking inside British Leyland, which had been formed from the merger of BMC and Standard-Triumph, the car was not built. It was an intriguing "might-have-been", as the car was so advanced it was still competitive by the 1980s. The British Leyland Motor Corporation (often abbreviated to simply BL), was a Britain in 1968. ...
During the 1970s, under the ownership of British Leyland, the Mini was given a more modern, squarer looking face-lift. The restyled version was called the Mini Clubman, and also spawned a Mini Cooper replacement called the 1275 GT, but the classic 1960s design remained available and survived the Clubman design. Events and trends Although in the United States and in many other Western societies the 1970s are often seen as a period of transition between the turbulent 1960s and the more conservative 1980s and 1990s, many of the trends that are associated widely with the Sixties, from the Sexual Revolution...
The Mini was also built in Italy by Leyland affiliate Innocenti, and was sold alongside other British Leyland products in Europe. Innocenti made its own version of the Mini Cooper, the Innocenti Cooper.
In the late 1970s Innocenti introduced the Innocenti 90 and 120 a Bertone-designed hatchback based on Mini platform. The Bertone redesigned Mini was available in a Mini Cooper equivalent christened the Innocenti de Tomaso. Bertone is an Italian car styling house, which also manufactures cars. ...
De Tomaso is an Italian automobile manufacturing company. ...
Reports of the Mini's imminent demise surfaced again in 1980 with the launch of the Austin Mini Metro (badging showed the word 'Mini' in all lowercase), but the Mini survived even the Metro. 1980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. ...
1989 MG Metro Turbo The Rover Metro was a hatchback automobile of supermini size, originally launched in 1980 as the Austin Mini Metro (miniMETRO to give the official badging), intended to replace the Mini. ...
In 1981 in New Zealand, the Mini had another major starring role, in a "road trip" movie directed by Geoff Murphy called Goodbye Pork Pie. By this time, however, the Mini was beginning to fall out of favour in many of its export markets. South African, Australian and New Zealand production all stopped around this time. In New Zealand, assembly switched to the Honda City. 1981 is a common year starting on Thursday. ...
New Zealand is an independent sovereign state in the south-western Pacific Ocean. ...
Geoff Murphy directed some significant New Zealand movies in the late 20th century. ...
Goodbye Pork Pie, one of the earlier movies directed by New Zealander Geoff Murphy, became a huge hit and packed out the cinemas it screened at. ...
The Honda City was originally a three-door supermini-sized automobile hatchback manufactured by the Japanese Honda company, and was launched in 1981. ...
Through the 1980s, the British market enjoyed numerous "special editions" of the Mini, which shifted the car from a mass-market item into a fashionable icon. It was this image that perhaps helped the Mini become such an asset for BMW, which later bought the remnants of BMC as the Rover Group. It was even more popular in Japan, where it was seen as a retro-cool icon, and inspired many imitators at major Japanese automakers. There was also a Mini Cooper revival, with the uprated metro "A+" version of the 1.3 L engine fitted in to the car. The engine was also fitted with modern electronic fuel injection - first single-point, then on the final models, a multi-point system. The BMW logo is a circle divided into quadrants of alternating white and light blue color. ...
1962 Rover 80 Rover is a manufacturer of automobiles in the United Kingdom. ...
Official language Japanese Capital Tokyo Largest City Tokyo Emperor Akihito Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi Area - Total - % water Ranked 60th 377,835 km² 0. ...
Production of the original Mini outlasted its major competitors—the VW Beetle (at least in Europe), the Citroën 2CV and the Metro, its intended replacement—running until October 2000 with a total of 5.3 million cars. The Volkswagen Beetle or Bug is a small family car, the best known car of Volkswagen, of Germany, and almost certainly the world. ...
1960 2CV. Notice suicide doors The 2CV (deux chevaux - French, literally two horses, from the tax horsepower rating) was a popular French car made by Citroën. ...
In 1994 under Bernd Pischetsrieder, a nephew of Issigonis, BMW took control of the Rover Group, which included the Mini, and fitted an airbag to comply with European legislation. By 2000, Rover was still suffering massive losses and BMW decided to dispose of most of the company: MG and Rover went to Phoenix, a new British consortium; Land Rover went to Ford. BMW kept the Mini brand name and now sells a completely new Mini, technically unrelated to the old car, which the Rover subsidiary had almost finished developing. MGs logo MG is a British marque that traditionally has produced sports cars. ...
Land Rover was the name of one of the first British civilian all-terrain utility vehicles, first produced by Rover in 1947. ...
The Ford Motor Company (often referred to simply as Ford; sometimes nicknamed Fords or FoMoCo, (NYSE: F) is an automobile maker founded by Henry Ford in Detroit, Michigan, and incorporated on June 16, 1903. ...
New MINI Launched in 2001, the new MINI (note capitals, sometimes unofficially called BMW MINI) is built in Cowley in Oxford, United Kingdom. Historically this was the Morris car plant. The new MINI has a Brazilian-built Tritec engine. Like the original, this is a transverse four-cylinder unit, driving the front wheels. The styling of the car, like that of the new VW Beetle is deliberately reminiscent of the original. The car has been criticized for its poor space-efficiency compared with the original, but it has quickly become a sales success in Europe and (from 2002) in the USA. It comes in 4 models: the MINI One, MINI One D (with a Toyota-built diesel engine), MINI Cooper, and MINI Cooper S. In the US market, only the MINI Cooper and MINI Cooper S are sold. The car is featured in the 2003 remake of The Italian Job. New for 2005 production are the MINI Cooper (and S) convertibles, as well as a redesigned front and rear fascia for the hardtop models. Photo of 2004 MINI Cooper S taken on February 28, 2004 by User:Minesweeper and released into the public domain. ...
Photo of 2004 MINI Cooper S taken on February 28, 2004 by User:Minesweeper and released into the public domain. ...
The BMW logo is a circle divided into quadrants of alternating white and light blue color. ...
Cowley in Oxfordshire is a residential and industrial area within the city of Oxford, originating with the former villages of Cowley, Temple Cowley and Cowley St John. ...
This article is about the city of Oxford in England. ...
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country in western Europe, and member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the G8, the European Union, and NATO. Usually known simply as the United Kingdom, the UK, or (inaccurately) as Great Britain or Britain, the UK has four constituent...
Morris was the name of a former English car manufacturing company. ...
In 1997, Chrysler Corporation and Rover Group (later BMW) formed Tritec, a joint venture to design a new small straight-4 engine for small cars. ...
The Volkswagen Beetle or Bug is a small family car, the best known car of Volkswagen, of Germany, and almost certainly the world. ...
Toyota redirects here. ...
The Italian Job is a British comedy caper film, directed by Peter Collinson and written by Troy Kennedy Martin. ...
At the Geneva Motorshow 2004 BMW/MINI introduced a convertible model to be released in mid-2004. The car is available in 'One', 'Cooper' and 'Cooper S' versions worldwide (although the 'One' convertible, like its hardtop sibling, is not sold in the USA) and BMW have received a significant backlog of orders in the short period since its announcement. Saab 900 Convertible Convertible can also refer to a convertible (security) A convertible is an automobile with a folding, retracting, or removable roof. ...
The Mini Cooper/Cooper S won the North American Car of the Year award for 2003. The North American Car of the Year is an automobile award voted annually in January at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. ...
2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, and also: The International Year of Freshwater The European Disability Year Events January January 1 - Luíz Inácio Lula Da Silva becomes the 37th President of Brazil. ...
Next-generation New Mini BMW will introduce a new Mini for 2006 on a reengineered platform. This architecture is shared with PSA and will be more flexible. Additional Mini models, including a roadster and sport wagon, are likely. The Tritec engine will be replaced by a new BMW unit with an optional turbo rather than supercharging. 2006 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
An automobile platform is a shared set of components common to a number of different automobiles. ...
The PSA Peugeot Citroën Group (in French, PSA Groupe) is a vehicle company that owns the marques Peugeot and Citroën. ...
In 1997, Chrysler Corporation and Rover Group (later BMW) formed Tritec, a joint venture to design a new small straight-4 engine for small cars. ...
Turbocharger Cut-away A turbocharger is a device used in internal-combustion engines to increase the power output of the engine by increasing the mass of oxygen and fuel entering the engine. ...
AutoWeek reports (http://www.autoweek.com/news.cms?newsId=102232) that a long-wheelbase version (remeniscent of the original Mini Clubman) will also be produced. This may include a 5-door rear-hinged version similar to the Satun ION Quadcoupe and Mazda RX-8. 2003 ION2 at Spring Hill headquarters The Saturn ION is a compact car sold by General Motors Saturn marque. ...
The Mazda RX-8 is a car manufactured by Mazda Motor Corporation; which first appeared in North America at the North American International Auto Show (2001). ...
Mini sales in the United States Between 1960 and 1967, a small number of BMC Minis were imported to the US. Sales were discontinued when federal emissions regulations were imposed; BMC felt that it would be too expensive to make the Mini's engine compliant. Despite this, a small band of enthusiasts keep the legacy of the original car alive in the USA. 1960 was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...
1967 was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ...
US,Us or us may stand for the United States of America us, the oblique case form of the English language pronoun we. ...
The new MINI is US emissions compliant and is sold in the United States with great success.
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