1964 Morris Mini-Cooper S Mark III

Alec Issigonis, the father and designer of the Mini, and his good friend, F1 guru, John Cooper, had very different ideas for the Mini Cooper. Mr. Issigonis was firmly against a performance version, and despite several long evenings of animated discussions with Mr. Cooper, BMC Management eventually 'green-lighted' the project. John Cooper had quite a bit of experience tuning BMC's A-Series engine as he was running the company's Formula Junior effort at the time. His pursuit of a high-performance version was solidified following a test drive in a prototype Mini. The result was the Mini Cooper, introduced in September of 1961 and offering plenty of performance for its size at an affordable price. The early examples were powered by a 997cc twin-carb A-series engine, replaced in 1964 by a short-stroke 998cc unit. Front disc brakes were standard and two-tone paint schemes and special grilles gave them a unique flair that was highly visible and unique.

The Mini was the answer to the fuel shortage caused by the 1956 Suez Crisis. Due to petrol rationing in the United Kingdom, sales of large cars had fallen as consumers turned to small bubble cars emerging from the German market. The Fiat 500, introduced in 1957, was also very successful.

Leonard Lord, head of the BMC, instructed his designers to create a miniature car. With some basic design requirements in hand, work began in hast. The vehicle would have to fit within a box that measured 10x4x4 and the passenger accommodation should occupy 6 feet of the 10-foot length. At the time, Mr. Issigonis was working on three projects for BMC - a large and small family car, and a small economy car. The economy car, code-named XC9003, quickly became the priority. Together with his team of Chris Kingham, Jack Daniels, two engineering students, and four draughtsmen they designed and built the original XC9003 prototype by July 1957. Due to its color, it was nicknamed the 'Orange Box.' Approval from Leonard Lord was granted on July 19 and XC9003 became project ADO15.

The Mini Cooper S won the Monte Carlo Rally in 1964, 1965 and 1967. Its popularity grew even further after its appearance in the 1967 British film The Italian Job, in which Minis and Mini Coopers play a key role in a bank heist.

Mark III

The Mark III was produced from October of 1969 to 1976 with factory code ADO20 (which it shared with the Clubman). It had a wheelbase of 2.04 meters, an overall length of 3.06 meters, a width of 1.42 meters, and stood just 1.36 meters high. Power was sourced from an 848cc, a 998cc, and a 1,275cc inline-4 engines paired with a four-speed manual transmission. The previous hydrolastic suspension system reverted back to rubber cones as a cost-saving measure. The exterior bodyshell was modified with the most visual update being larger doors with concealed hinges. The sliding windows were replaced with winding windows. A heater became standard equipment on the entry-level Mini 850 by April of 1974.

In 1969, the simple name Mini completely replaced the separate Austin and Morris brands.

By Daniel Vaughan | Aug 2022