As SC has pointed out, the droopy tail on the Austin 1800 was rectified in part by the ‘tail-lift’ on the Mark II, restyled grille and addition of a chrome strip down the waist line of the local cars. Here are a few pics of the development of the 1800 in BMC’s ‘styling’ studio. I have my doubts as to whether the car ever saw a stylist, even though the original brochure claims Pininfarina had a hand in it. Very much an Issigonis creation who had a very low opinion of 'stylists' because he thought like fashions, they go out of date very quickly and lead to planned obsolence. According to Car magazine, the Hillman Hunter was also an in-house effort, and there is an interesting comparison here. If you take all the separate features, such as the headlight surrounds, the messy Austin grille, the droopy tail and general plainness of the whole car, it’s a wonder they sold as many as they did, particularly in this country. However, put the whole thing together and put it into action on the rally circuits and its whole persona changes. They do have this ‘British bulldog’ stance, and when viewed head on weaving its way through the mud on a proving ground, it was dubbed the Land-crab by a couple of journalists – a name still with us nearly 60 years later.