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If there is one vehicle globally that can be said to have set the design and engineering sectors of the automobile industry hurtling towards basic acceptance of small front wheel drive cars - it can be said to be the Austin Mini project. Mini’s made the concept of small “cars” acceptable - both mechanically , functionally on the roads and highways of Britain , North America and indeed the global auto market. Indeed the Japanese automakers - be it Toyota, Nissan , Mazda or Subaru readily admit that their first model and business models that they learned from in the auto trade were the British automakers. What other roadside car would of been their stalwart model - nothing else but the Austin Mini models with their front wheel drive , transversely mounted 4 cycle engine that were both simple , economical and ultimately lovable.

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.

Yet to its credit the mini was not only sort of cute - some called it ugly - but advanced simple standards of driver comforts yet to come in the future - for example map storage areas on the drivers and passenger doors - obstensively for maps but deep enough to be used for carrying home even small grocery items. The first minis rolled off the assembly line in Britain on May 8 , 1959 and showed up on streets and highways shortly after during August 1959. It was even priced in British terms at less than $ 540 British Pounds Sterling - the American dollar equivalent being less than $ 1000.

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.

Real classics die hard - even before the introduction of the current 2000 era reintroduced Mini motor car. Towards the end of lifespan of the factory production of the classic first set of the Austin Mini product, a famed British automotive innovator - Sir Alec Issigonis , who was the initial father and developer of the product line tried his hand to upscale and improve on the setup. It seemed that smaller was even better and the attempt was to produce and even tinier car. What resulted was the ‘9X” prototype - a hatchback model that was powered by an aluminum powertrain that was 40 % lighter than the Mini’s. Even though the product never saw production , the basic styling did live on as a role model of styling to come - in products from as varied auto producers as Fiat , Renault and VW Volkswagen. Even to the end it could be said that the Austin Mini set the standard and curve. Yet

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