Austin Seven & The Mini |
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Austin Seven Tourer 1927; Submitted by Rick Feibusch, 2011 Austin Seven & The Mini
By Geoff Wheatley 2012
One of the most famous cars ever produced was the British Austin Seven
that was also made under license in Germany, Japan, France and America.
Designed in 1921 and launched in 1922 it was at that time the smallest British four cylinder vehicle. The original engine size was 696 cc, however this was increased a couple of years later to 747cc to provide better performance and equally important to live up to the marketing claim that it could transport four adults at fifty miles an hour. The production run of seventeen years and may well have continued but for the outbreak of war in 1939 when all private production stopped in Britain. Factories were converted to producing war items including Austin and its principle rival Morris Motors.
Austin Seven 1931; Submitted by Rick Feibusch, 2010
In reality the end result was closer to the reverse as both Austin and
Morris never blended into one efficient unit and continued to see their
respective markets as competitive. There was little joint co-operation
throughout the life of the BMC and certainly no love lost as far as joint
development was concerned. When the equally famous Mini was conceived and designed by Alec Issigonis, a top engineer within the Morris Corporation, the eventual product was sold as the new Austin Seven which did not sit well within the Morris Company especially as the early cars were produced at the Morris factory in Oxford, and later in the MG facility in Abingdon.
Austin Healey 1954; Submitted by Rick Feibusch, 2011 The reintroduction of the MG Midget made famous by the prewar car of the same name was little more than a badge engineering operation of the Austin Healey Sprite. When the Austin Healey 100 was first introduced at the London Motor Show in 1952 it received rave reviews from the motoring media with Donald Healey, the famous prewar Rally driver equally on display. The design had originally come out his own company but the financial requirement to bring the car into reality was achieved through the Austin association who at that time were looking for a sports car to compete with the success of Jaguar and MG in the American export market. MGTD 1953
The newly formed BMC may well have had something to do with this
arrangement especially as the policy of the British government who had a
financial interest was to increase exports especially to the USA. MG had a
replacement for the TD Series ready to go in 1952 but the BMC agreement for the first Austin Healey’s to be produced at Abingdon shelved the production of this car for another three years. (The MGTF was a stop gap that could be produced on the established TD production lines until the new MGA could go into production through a proposed expansion of the MG facility).
Austin Mini 1960
Lord Nuffield, who had ruled Morris ever since its conception some fifty
years earlier had retired and given up his financial interests in the
company with no successor in the wings to take over therefore the Austin
Corporation, or rather it’s CEO, was appointed to run this large and complex
enterprise. It is reported that Nuffield was not pleased with this situation and made this known to the government representatives on the board and the
Prime Minister of the day. The end result was that a Morris man was given the position of Managing Director but in reality the Austin brigade was now
running the show. Longbridge, the home of the Austin Corporation had been a strong Union Plant for a number of years while the Morris Empire had never been subjected to this situation mainly because Morris like his mentor Henry Ford paid his workers above the union rates to keep out union recruiters. With the creation of the BMC this was to change and eventually led to union control of the British Motor industry but that is another story for another time!
Austin 7 Special 1930
Without doubt the achievement of being placed in the top ten during the 2.400 mile East African Rally in 1935 represented a very tall feather in the Austin Seven competitive cap. Three cars competed and two finished the course with one arriving at the finishing line as number eight.
Mini Cooper 1967
MG TF 1954
MGA 1955
MG Miget MK III 1967
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