| 1960 |
|
| 1961 |
|
January
|
|
Australian production commenced with sliding
windows and rubber cone suspension - the same basic design
which remained until January 1966. These minis were all being
made in BMC's Australian production plant, located in Zetland,
outside of Sydney New South Wales, Australia. Oz
production plant (Offsite link)
|
|
March
|
|
Morris 850
Australian assembled version of the UK MK1
mini. Badged as "Morris 850" on the advice of local advertising
consultants that "mini" was demeaning. There was no Austin
variant, which remained the norm throughout Oz mini production.
The "Morris 850" was available until 1966.
Powerplant : Used the same 34bhp 848cc powerplant
as all UK Mk1 minis. The only difference was to the gearstick,
which featured a small bend near the top. Early cars have
8AM prefixed engines, later units using the Oz assembled 8Y
unit.
Sedan: £775 ($1550) Van: £742
($1484)
|
|
| 1962 |
|
October
|
Mini Cooper
Australian version of the UK Mk1 Cooper. Badged in Morris
version only, using what was to be the "defacto" standard
grille for all Oz minis to come - the seven bar Morris grille.
Popular rumour has it that late 998cc Coopers had the Oz
wind-up/quarter-vent windows, as the car was based around
the deluxe shell. The early 997cc Coopers utilised the original
sliding-window shell. This was the first Oz mini to have
a remote gearchange.
Powerplant
: Used the same basic 997cc engine unit as the UK 997cc
Cooper, but the compression ratio was dropped from 9:1 to
8.3:1 to compensate for the lower octane fuel being used
in Oz at the time. This dropped the power output (normally
55bhp) to 52bhp @ 5800rpm but brought the torque up to 53
lb/ft @ 3500rpm instead of 44lb/ft @ 2900rpm. The final
drive was 3.76:1 with 3.44:1 as an option.
£950 ($1900)
|
|
| 1963 |
|
April
|
|
Mini Cooper S 1071 MK1
These Cooper 'S's were never assembled in Oz, and were fully
imported by a limited number of BMC dealers. This meant they
were only available in very limited quantities
Powerplant : with a 1071cc engine, developing 70 bhp (52.5kW)
at 6000 rpm.
£1400 ($2800)
|
|
| 1964 |
|
June
|
|
A
number of small improvements and standardisations were introduced
throughout the mini range. These improvements included :
Rubber
diaphragm seats instead of "webbing" type
Tenth of mile reading on Speedo
Waterproof covers for the distributor and coil
Twin-leading shoe brakes
"B" type gearboxes (3-sync)
Oz designed steering rack (similar to Morris 1100 rack)
|
|
| 1965 |
| March |
|
Morris Mini Deluxe
A newly designed mini which was unique to Oz. This car
used the newly designed wind-up windows, hydroloastic suspension,
remote gearchange (as per Cooper) and key operated starter.
Like many minis to follow, used the seven bar grille, with
small over-riders (no nerf bars). Re-designed seats & trim
complemented the now familiar centre speedo.
Powerplant : The 848cc engine
was dropped in favour of the newer 998cc unit (introduced
in UK in the Elf/Hornet). Power went up to 38bhp, and torque
was up to 52lb/ft @ 2700rpm. All were supplied with the 3.76:1
final drive.
Produced until March 1969.
£833 ($1666).
|
| May |
Mini van with wind-up windows in production
|
| June |
Car officially became the Mini in Australia.
Some models offered locally designed wind-up windows.
|
| September |
|
Morris Cooper S Interesting
info (Offsite link)
Australia's first 'S' ! It commenced production with two
fuel tanks enabling 50 litres capacity, a laminated windscreen
and 'racing approved' (ha!) seatbelts with 3-point fixing. There
was quite a wide colour range available, and the cars had
locally sourced trim. The Cooper 'S' used the same quarter
vent doors as the deluxe and other cars of the range. This
mini was built until April 1969.
Poweplant : Used the Mk1 1275 S engine, of similar specification
to the UK cars. Power was 75bhp @ 5800rpm and torque was 80lb/ft
@ 3000rpm.
£1140 ($2280)
|
| October |
| All models were fitted with wind-up windows |
|
| 1966 |
|
February
|
Morris
Mini Moke 998
The moke starts
production in Australia. The Oz Moke has the same 10"
wheels of its English counterpart, but starts life with
a 998cc engine over the 850cc.
Produced up until April 1969.
|
|
| 1967 |
|
October
|
|
998cc
engine fitted across the range as standard. The Morris 850
has already been out of production for some time.
|
|
| 1968 |
|
January
|
|
Mini Deluxe Auto Mark I (Mini-Matic)
With a four-speed automatic transmission made by Automotive
Products, production lasted until August 1968
|
|
September
|
|
Mini Deluxe Auto Mark II
|
|
| 1969 |
|
March
|
|
Morris Mini K (Deluxe Mark II)
Another
uniquely Oz model. This was to be "Morris Mini Deluxe MK II"
but the decision was made to call it the 'K' (which stands
for Kangaroo) - and badge the car accordingly. New features
saw the K getting the same instruments as the 'S' without
the 120MPH speedo, an alternator, dished & padded steering
wheel (still bus like) and 4-speed syncro. This was the last
round-nose car to be introduced in Oz, and was built in Sydney
from a claimed 80% local content and was said to hold 30%
of the small car market
This
was the first production round-nose mini in the world to feature
the 1098cc engine and came with the new 4-speed syncro gearbox.
Power increased to 50bhp, and torque to 60 lb/ft Priced at
$1780
|
|
April
|
BMC Oz decides
to make some improvements to the moke. the 1098cc engine
was fitted, which gave plenty of extra torque - just what
the moke needed. Another big improvement which allowed the
moke to traverse rougher terrain was the introduction of
13" wheels, which were in time to become standard. It
did mean some redesigning some of the moke's suspension
and arches to get it all to fit.
The "Morris
Mini 1100" model (base model) now got full synchro.
|
|
May
|
Mini Moke Mark II & Cooper S Mark II Interesting
info (Offsite link)
An update of the already successful 1275 Cooper S which
was released in 1965. This Cooper S was produced with an oval
'S' badge and bolt on wheel arch flares, as some authorities
were not pleased with the stock setup, complaining the wheels
were outside the guards.
|
|
| 1970 |
|
December
|
|
Complete
withdrawal of the parent company from racing activities resulted
in British Leyland Australia continuing extensive involvement
in track, rallycross and rallies independently.
|
|
| 1971 |
|
August
|
Mini Clubman 1100
The body design was updated including a grille with
six horizontal bars, resulting in the new Clubman 1100 priced
at $1999. The round nose cars now went completely out of
production, with dribs and drabs of round nose S's, K's,
1100 (base model) and vans still being sold in the dealerships.
After that stock of round nose cars were sold, no more were
made in Oz!
Cooper S was replaced by the Mini Clubman GT (1275cc),
valued at $2502.
Unlike it's
UK counterpart (The 1275GT), the clubman GT had the full
spec Cooper 'S' motor, and not the de-tuned 55bp motor of
the 1275GT. Unfortunately the model did not live long, and
many GTs were plundered for their 'S' motors during the
1980's when clubmans were quite unpopular.
|
|
| 1972 |
|
April
|
|
Name changed to Leyland Mini
|
|
October
|
|
An
announcement was made by Leyland that 3 million Minis has
been built in 13 years of production - half were exported
|
|
| 1973 |
|
April
|
|
A variety of cabin changes were introduced for greater comfort.
The car was sold as Mini and Mini S. Hydrolastic
suspension was phased out (mainly for cost reasons) and replaced
by the original rubber suspension. A 1098cc engine was
fitted.
|
|
| 1974 |
|
|
|
A
total of 155,168 Minis had been sold in Australia.
|
|
| 1975 |
|
September
|
|
A
return to the 998cc engine import from the U.K., replacing
the locally sourced 1098cc unit. Production of the mini (&
other remaining Leyland cars) had moved from Zetland to Enfield.
The 998 being used, to try and cut costs (???) and with the
3.44 diff to keep noise down. Leyland claimed a large
increase in sales. The Mini and Mini S names were still
used, with the car still being locally assembled. Head
restraints were fitted to the Mini S.
|
|
| 1976 |
|
February
|
|
Limited Edition Leyland Mini SS
Leyland outlined plans to build a limited edition of 500 SS
Minis. Except its possessing a higher standard of equipment
and trim, the car was basically the same as the Mini S.
It was priced at $3895, compared with $3540 for the standard
Mini. The SS was the first Mini with a twin-speaker
sound system and alloy road wheels as standard.
|
|
| 1977 |
|
March
|
|
A
new mini was added to the range, and while still using the
same UK 998cc unit as the rest of the range, but had most
of it's features based on the limited SS model.
|
|
October
|
|
Leyland Mini Sunshine
This 'special edition' mini featured a sunshine roof and
tinted windows - priced lower than the LS at $4395
|
|
| 1978 |
|
August
|
|
Leyland Mini 1275 LS
This last Oz mini, seen as the most desirable by some,
was a package that probably would have gone on to sell well
if only Leyland hadn't gone under. Fitted with 12-inch wheels
and a 55bhp 1275, this quite comfortable mini sold in only
small numbers, but a surprising number remain today.
|
|
October
|
|
Local
production of Minis ceased in Leyland's Enfield plant in New
South Wales. A total of 176,284 Minis had been built
in Australia including a further 26,142 Mokes.
|
|
