When we moved to England in 1982, I needed a car for my wife and daughter, as I drove our Fiat to work five days a week. We expected to return to the U.S. in two or three years, so I was looking for a second car that would be fun to drive, with no expectation that we’d put a lot of miles on it.
I remember that I gave serious consideration to three cars – three very different cars. I decided not to buy a first-generation VW Scirocco when I learned how expensive it would be to insure. A Citroën 2CV looked to be an interesting alternative, and “Deux Chevaux” were still being manufactured at that time, so I could buy a fairly new one. However, I had doubts about how safe a 2CV would be for my wife and child. Therefore I went with option 3, a 1977-ish British Leyland Mini, which although small, was built like a tank compared to the 2CV.
How mini was our Mini? It was ten feet and a quarter inch long, 53 inches tall, and weighed about 1,400 pounds. The Internet tells me that our Mini was actually six inches taller than the ’84 Fiero I owned later, but it was three feet shorter in length than the 2-seater Pontiac, which is why that quarter inch matters.
A second daughter was born while we were in England, and we found we could fit both car-seats and a double stroller in the Mini if we weren’t going too far. A fold-down trunk lid gave access to a small “boot” which could hold a couple of bags of groceries when we went to the Hypermarket. That was sufficient for the fairly small refrigerator we had in the kitchen of our rented house.
Our chocolate brown Mini had a 998cc 4-cylinder engine and a 4-speed manual transmission that enabled us to make the best use of all 38HP on tap. You might think that the car’s diminutive size and 10-inch wheels made it handle like a go-kart, and you’d be correct in your assumption.
The Mini was well suited for the narrow roads around our village, and it was easy to park whenever we went into town. From time to time we took the little car on motorways, where the speed limit was 70MPH, with no complaint from the Mini. I had to observe the posted speed limits as the Mini’s center-mounted speedometer was clearly visible to all passengers. I doubt our two-year-old knew her numbers but my wife certainly did.
We didn’t travel far in our Mini once our second child arrived. We didn’t need to; there was a lot to see nearby. We liked to walk through a forest of yew trees, or watch kite-flying on the Downs, which actually are hills, or visit the harbor where King Canute argued with the incoming tide. At the end of each expedition we’d put our daughters back in their car seats, and I suspect that my wife often wondered why we didn’t have a car with four doors.
You may have read about the origins of the Mini, of which five million were built from 1959-2000, and it is a topic CC has paid attention to before (links below). Still, it is well known that European carmakers had to create products to a reality conditioned by limited resources, particularly after WWII.
Among those, petrol was rationed in the UK during World War II and for five years afterwards, and this rationing was imposed again during the 1956-1957 Suez Crisis. One solution to the European fuel shortages of the 1950s was the “bubble car” like those built by German manufacturers Messerschmitt and BMW, each with a hinged canopy or a front-opening door that incorporated the windshield and steering column. I remember a BMW Isetta (itself, licensed design from Italian builder Iso) which had been abandoned behind the fire station in my hometown, guarded by a wasp’s nest, so I dared not approach too closely.
Leonard Lord, the president of the British Motor Corporation, didn’t think much of bubble cars that had seats for one or two passengers only. He wanted BMC to build a “proper miniature car” with two doors and seating for four, and he hired Alec Issigonis to design the Mini for that purpose. Today I ask myself which car was more significant in the history of automotive design, the VW Beetle or the Mini, and which was a dead-end. I mean, how many air-cooled rear-engine cars are built today?
To return to my story… I’ll agree with Leonard Lord, and admit the Mini was a proper car. Still, we had to part with it. Living far from home with two small children, my wife and I decided not to extend our English adventure beyond two years. In 1984, we sold both our Mini and our Fiat Strada and returned to the U.S.
Recently I saw a “classic” Mini on display in a toy store outside of Boston. I asked the saleslady if I might climb inside. “You’re welcome to try,” she said, so I did. I don’t believe I’ve grown any taller or heavier in the past four decades, but I’m considerably less flexible. After she stopped laughing at me, my wife took a photo and helped me climb out.
Related CC reading:
Car Show Classic: 1960 Austin Seven (Mini) – The Future Started Here, by Roger Carr
CC Capsule: 1964 Morris Mini-Minor – Passing The Sniff Test?, by T87
Curbside Classic: 1980 Austin / BL Mini 95 Van – Just More Of It To Love, by T87
CC has been due a Mini owner story for some time, and you’ve fully delivered.
Yes, a proper Mini is small but they could do so much everyday they worked for so many of us. 70 mph on the motorway, 4 up, no problem. Nip about town and park it just about anywhere? Ideal. Completely class agnostic, from student to Princess Margaret, rally winner, family car, first car, maybe as a student banger (beater), in every family album somewhere and the only car, apart from a Rolls-Royce, that everyone knew.
Never beaten, never repeated, still missed.
And, no, a MINI is very different.
“in every family album somewhere”. Sadly not in any of our otherwise comprehensive family albums from the 1960’s. We briefly rented a Mini in 1964 when we spent 6 months in England and 3 on the Continent. The Mini filled in until our European delivery Volvo was ready. I have strong visual memories of the car and remember its distinctive inner door panels and sliding windows. Plus the right hand drive. As a 7 year old with an 11 year old sibling I don’t recall it being very tight inside, at least compared to our previous Volvo 544. But the new 122S, a wagon (our first) seemed cavernous by contrast.
I really like the last photo .
I’ve ridden in a Mini but never owned one .
I’d like to read more about the driving aspects .
-Nate
For more about what it’s like to drive a Mini…
Our editor Ric added some links to my post. I learned a lot from Roger Carr’s post “The Future Started Here” – wish I’d seen it earlier! – and there are interesting comments from other Mini drivers, too.
Excellent post about a great little car. I feel that you hit all of the high points of the Mini — its functional and economical design, how it fulfilled a strong need in post-War Britain, and how it indeed worked to provide transport for 2 adults and 2 children (or 2 additional adults, in a pinch). I wish I lived in a world where there were still such things produced and where consumers still appreciated vehicles such as the original Mini.
I know the exact store with the green Mini in your last photo. I’ve often thought of climbing in and doing just what you did. Thank you for taking care of that for me 🙂
Nice write-up of what it’s like to own and drive a Mini.
Today I ask myself which car was more significant in the history of automotive design, the VW Beetle or the Mini, and which was a dead-end.
Well, the Mini did come out 20 years after the VW, and back in 1939, the VW was every bit as radical as the Mini was in 1959. Sure, the air cooled rear engine design was ultimately abandoned, but the Beetle was built until 2003 and gave good service until the end.
Not to take anything away from the Mini, but DKW was building small, cheap transverse engine FWD cars since 1931,
Yes, that’s true. I think that the Mini was the first to make full use of the layout and be popular. The same is true of many other things, such as hatchback cars. Suddenly there’s a series of factors that come together to finally make something catch on, although the concept has been around for a while.
I’ve had many trips in Minis. I think the most memorable one was when my father drove our hire car Mini around the Isle of Man TT course at top speed. Happy times.
Imagine an updated electric version with the same dimensions and how it could transform society if widely adopted.
There have been electric conversions of classic Minis; they can work well. This one used a Tesla power pack with virtually no compromises in terms of weight or space (weight distribution is 55:45 front to rear). Range is 150 miles. The car has 300 horsepower and weighs three quarters of a tonne, so performance of is something else, of course.
https://www.electricclassiccars.co.uk/blogs/conversions/mini?srsltid=AfmBOoorN428oPdsaDZ_U5J_QZX5fifIppy5AfpHiqPwK9OYQlWZxEpH
The A+ engine can be taken out to 1450cc for use on the Track. But 1380cc is about the maximum for road use.
Their is a Jack Knight 5 Speed Gearbox, that can fit in the Mini’s Oil Sump. But they have Straight Cut Teeth. So can be noise.
Weber Twin Carburettors, Supercharger, Turbocharger (see ERA Mini) and Electronic Fuel Injection can all be used.
The Engine, had to be turned 180 degrees, as the prototypes were doing over 90mph, in the period before launch in 1959.
But, it should have been a Hatchback.
Ringo Starr, had Harold Radford Coachbuilders build him one circa 1966.
Shooting Brake Estates, or Riley and Wolseley’s with a little Boot (Trunk) sticking out, and exotic front Grill.
Or Crayford Convertible, Cabriolet versions.
Excellent write-up. A friend in Wisconsin has a Mini, a NZ one (my memory says a ’73.) Small outside, but surprisingly roomy inside. Right hand drive, but on the wide Wisconsin snow-plow-friendly streets you can drive fairly close to the center of the road so it doesn’t feel too weird. Shifting was weird, even though I’m left-handed. It’s fun to fling around, with just two of us in it anyway.
I was always intrigued by that quarter inch. Was it intentional to play with people’s minds (like me), or was it because a real engineer designed the car and that was how big it needed to be. I have never owned a Mini, but I have had rides in several generations. A friend is a professional cello player and he drove one for many years, with his instrument riding in the back seat.
From what I read Issigonis was given a footprint and told to fit a 4 seat economy car in it, the stroke of genius was compacting the powertrain into the space left for it and Moultons rubber cones to hold it up without taking up much space, never mind what goes wrong with them the design is inspired
Had a couple of Minis – one a 1979(?) 1,000cc 41hp Mayfair and later a 1974 Innocenti 1300 Cooper with a balanced, blueprinted motor putting out around 85hp. The Inno ran an honest (measured by a properly calibrated GM test car) 180 kmh (around 110mph), which was quick for a Mini and the acceleration would leave the 112hp GTis in the dust. Such a fun little car – sounded great, too, with an LCB header and RC40 exhaust system, plus K&N filters on the twin SUs. You could change direction using the handbrake in a narrow European street between parked cars – hilarious! Girls loved it, too – much more than the ‘66 427/425 ‘Vette that was its garage partner.
That little guy was one of my favorite cars and I would love another one!