Mini

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Mini
1959 Morris Mini-Minor (first one built)
Overview
Manufacturer	United Kingdom: British Motor Corporation (1959–1968) British Leyland (1968–1986) Rover Group (1986–2000) International: Innocenti (1965–1975) Authi (1968–1975) Associated Motor Industries Malaysia BMC Australia Industrija Motornih Vozil New Zealand Motor Corporation BMC South Africa Leyland South Africa Leyland Australia Thai Motor Corporation (THAMCO)
Also called	Austin 850[1] Rover Mini Austin Cooper[2] Austin Mini Austin Partner[3] Austin Seven Innocenti Mini[4] Leyland Mini[5] Morris 850 Morris Mascot[3] Morris Mini Minor Riley Elf Wolseley 1000 (South Africa)[6] [3] Wolseley Hornet
Production	Longbridge plant, Birmingham (1959–2000)[7] Cape Town, South Africa (BMC/Leyland South Africa)[8] Lambrate, Milan, Italy (Innocenti Mini)[9]
Designer	Sir Alec Issigonis John Sheppard
Body and chassis
Class	City car (A)
Body style	2-door saloon 2-door convertible 2-door estate 2-door van 2-door coupe utility
Layout	FF layout
Related	Mini Moke Austin Metro Innocenti Mini (1974–82) Mini Wildgoose Mini Marcos
Powertrain
Engine	848 cc, 970 cc, 997 cc, 998 cc, 1,071 cc, 1,098 cc, 1,275 cc A-series I4
Transmission	4-speed manual 4-speed automatic 5-speed manual (optional extra on some later models)
Dimensions
Wheelbase	2,036 mm (80.2 in) (saloon) 2,138 mm (84.2 in) (estate and commercials)
Length	3,054 mm (120.2 in) (saloon)[10] 3,299 mm (129.9 in) (estate and commercials) 3,300 mm (130 in) (Wolseley Hornet/Riley Elf)[11]
Width	1,410 mm (56 in) up to 1,530 mm (60 in) with widest 'sportspack' factory wheel-arches
Height	1,346 mm (53.0 in)
Kerb weight	580–686 kg (1,279–1,512 lb)
Chronology
Successor	Austin Metro[12] Mini Hatch

The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 until 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during five, from the last year of the 1950s into the last year of the 20th century, over a single generation, as fastbacks, estates, and convertibles.

The original Mini is considered an icon of 1960s British popular culture.^{[13][14][15][16]} Its space-saving transverse engine and front-wheel drive layout – allowing 80% of the area of the car's floorpan to be used for passengers and luggage – influenced a generation of car makers.^[17] In 1999, the Mini was voted the second-most influential car of the 20th century, behind the Ford Model T, and ahead of the Citroën DS and Volkswagen Beetle.^[18][19] The front-wheel-drive, transverse-engine layout were used in many other "supermini" style car designs such as Honda N360 (1967), Nissan Cherry (1970), and Fiat 127 (1971). The layout was also adapted for larger subcompact designs.

This distinctive two-door car was designed for BMC by Sir Alec Issigonis. It was manufactured at the Longbridge plant in Birmingham, England located next to BMC's headquarters and at the former Morris Motors plant at Cowley near Oxford, in the Victoria Park/Zetland British Motor Corporation (Australia) factory in Sydney, Australia, and later also in Spain (Authi), Belgium, Italy (Innocenti), Chile, Malta, Portugal, South Africa, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Yugoslavia (IMV).^[20]

The Italian version of the Mini was produced by Innocenti in Milan and it was sold under the "Innocenti Mini" marque. Innocenti was also producing Lambretta scooters at that time.

The Mini Mark I had three major UK updates: the Mark II, the Clubman, and the Mark III. Within these was a series of variations, including an estate car, a pick-up, a van, and the Mini Moke, a jeep-like buggy.

The performance versions, the Mini Cooper and Cooper "S", were successful as both race and rally cars, winning the Monte Carlo Rally in 1964, 1965, and 1967. In 1966, the first-placed Mini (along with nine other cars) was disqualified after the finish, under a controversial decision that the car's headlights were against the rules.^[21]

In August 1959, the Mini was marketed under the Austin and Morris names, as the Austin Seven and Morris Mini-Minor.^[22] The Austin Seven was renamed Austin Mini in January 1962^[22] and Mini became a marque in its own right in 1969.^[23][24] In 1980, it once again became the Austin Mini, and in 1988, just "Mini" (although the "Rover" badge was applied on some models exported to Japan).

BMW acquired the Rover Group (formerly British Leyland) in 1994, and sold the greater part of it in 2000, but retained the rights to build cars using the Mini name. Retrospectively, the car is known as the "Classic Mini" to distinguish it from the modern, BMW-influenced MINI family of vehicles produced since 2000.