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About the Morris Mini Cooper 1275S Mk.1
Many people who visited the
London Motor Show in October 1959 met an unfamiliar sight at the stand of Austin
and Morris of the British Motor Company. It had a strange styling which was
quite different from the current cars at that time; however most thought it was
cute. They could not quite believe that this car could seat comfortably, four
large British gentlemen or stout women, in a car that had a length of 3.05m and
a width of 1.41m. If they had known the amount of time and trouble that the
designers had taken to accomplish this feat, they would have better understood
why this was not only practical, but feasible as well.
Prior to the release of
the Austin seven and the Morris Mini Minor, the Austin A40, designed by
Pininfarina of Italy had been successful in using the 2 box styling. This same
design styling was adopted for the Mini Cooper. A front wheel drive was selected
to keep the floor paneling level flat. A small powerful engine was selected and
developed to be mounted sideways, in front, and driving the small diameter 10"
wheels, which were laid out at the four corners of the body.
By this design, 80% of the
overall length could be utilized for the passengers and driver, and to further
increase the space, the gearbox was installed in the oil sump of the engine. The
suspension system of the Mini was one of its most excellent features. Four wheel
independent suspension using a double wishbone and a rear trailing arm and the
springing was a rubber, semipneumatic, liquid filled and the front and rear
wheels were joined together with a thin pipe to equalize the pressures during
running. This type of dampening, using hydraulic springing is very compact, so
that it could all be mounted without interfering with the passenger compartment.
It was patented under the name of "Hydrolastic". The designer of this vehicle
was sir Alec Issigonis, a Greek who became a naturalized British subject, and
well known throughout the British automobile industry.
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X-10 - Gun Metal |
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X-11 - Chrome Silver |
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X-18 - Semi Gloss
Black |
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X-2 - White |
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X-26 - Clear Orange |
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X-27 - Clear Red |
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X-5 - Green |
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X-6 - Orange |
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X-7 - Red |
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X-8 - Lemon Yellow |
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XF-1 - Flat Black |
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XF-16 - Flat Aluminum |
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XF-19 - Sky Grey |
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XF-2 - Flat White |
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XF-20 - Medium Grey |
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XF-5 - Flat Green |
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XF-56 - Metallic Grey |
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XF-64 - Red Brown |
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XF-9 - Hull Red |
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