1963 Morris Mini 850 Saloon

Description

Originally displayed to the press in 1959, the Austin Seven/Morris Mini-Minor is so much more than a car- it has become a cult object, a phenomenon and a piece of Twentieth Century industrial design revered around the world. Of course, the vehicle is much better known as, simply, 'The Mini'- a name it adopted officially in 1961 when the Austin Seven was renamed. Designed by Sir Alec Issigonis the Mini was perhaps the first truly successful small car and the marvellous packaging endowed it with truly amazing load-carrying abilities. Being front-wheel drive allowed an impressive amount of space within the cockpit, and its four-square stance additionally gave the Mini kart-like handling which made it a giant-killer on rallies and race tracks.The Morris 850 commenced local Australian production in 1961 with rubber cone suspension and sliding windows. It was produced in the BMC's production facility in Sydney and, as it was a Morris, was not called a Mini officially until 1965. By 1978 the plant in Enfield, New South Wales, ceased Mini production after approximately 200,000 derivatives were produced.