The original Mini as introduced in England initially had a luke-warm reception, and it wasn't until about twelve months later that British sales started to take off. The micro car market here, represented by such cars as Fiat's 500, Goggomobile and the Lloyd Hartnett was very small, and BMC Australia were worried that the Mini would fall into the same category in buyers' minds.After an intensive engineering campaign to 'Australianise' the car for our conditions, thought was given as to how to promote it.

The name 'Mini' was to be avoided, as this gave connotations of tiny and cheap. As the car was to be sold only as a Morris, it was given the rather unoriginal title of 850, denoting the engine capacity. The word 'incredible' was used in all the advertising, as was the term 'East-West'.Ian Milbank, the company's brilliant advertising manager, came up with the idea of releasing the car as if it were human. The entire country was amazed on the morning of March 23rd 1961 when they opened their papers to find an almost empty blank page with a tiny births notice in the middle. (Some papers nearly refused to allow the ad for technical reasons).BMC thought they would be lucky to sell 10,000, so were quite unprepared when the public did visit their showrooms. On that first day an unprecedented amount of orders were taken for the little cars, which were only available in red, white, blue or yellow. On the back window, a transfer told the world that this was 'The Incredible Morris 850 with the East-West Engine'.

In October 1962, the Mini Cooper was announced, and this was BMC's first concession to the word 'Mini' in this country, even though the public had called it that from day one. We received the 997cc version, but before long, the stronger 998cc version replaced it by mid '63. An unofficial model was sold in 1962 by selected dealers as the Morris 850 Sports.This had twin carbs and the dealers did the conversion, not BMC.

The Mini Van was announced in April 1964, and went for many years, usually reflecting the same changes undergoing with the saloons.In mid-1964, the 850 received a number of worthwhile alterations, one of them being the fitment of a rear numberplate base in local dimensions rather than the British one, which always looked untidy.

The big news came in 1965 with the announcement of the Mini DeLuxe in March. We now got the 998cc engine which was the same as the ones fitted to the Wolseley and Riley variants in England, but the greatest concession to comfort came with wind-up windows. Whether it was more comfortable or not is open to question, but the Hydrolastic fluid suspension was also included. Following the Morris 1100, the DeLuxe had a sticker on the back window in the shape of a drop with 'the '65 Mini Floats on Fluid too'. The reference to '65 was dropped in later years. The DeLuxe boasted a better quality trim, key-turn starting and bigger brakes. The standard 850 continued alongside it for a while, and it and the Van were endowed with wind-up windows before long. By the way, the Van always used the same grille as the 850, not the punched out slots the British one used.

By August 1965, the Morris Cooper S was announced, and this car really needs no introduction here. Suffice to say, it was the first Australian production car to offer lap-sash front seat belts as standard equipment.The Australian S always used the 1275cc engine; the 971 and 1071 were never officially sold here, although some were brought in privately. A string of race track victories followed the S, including the outright win at Bathurst in 1966.

In late 1967, the Mini Matic was available, and this clever 4-speed automatic appealed to a small section of Mini buyers.

The rather inept Leyland management took over by late 1968, and as a result of their market research, they decided the Mini needed more power. In very short time, the Mini K found its way onto the market place, complete with kangaroo decals, and the 1098cc engine from the Morris 1100. The simple reason for the 'K' appelation came from the confusion that may have been caused by calling it the Morris Mini 1100. Is this a big Mini, or a shrunken Morris 1100?
The K with its bigger motor and all synchro gearbox appealed to just as many people, so the car sold well.

The Cooper S was Mark II'd later in 1969 with flares, new badges and synchro among other changes.

By 1971, the old round nose was felt to be dated, so the square-nosed Clubman replaced the Mini range.
It was available in S (with the 1098cc engine) and the GT with the 1275, which replaced the Cooper S.

The Morris name went by April 1972, with the car becoming known as the Leyland Mini. Because the 1098 was difficult to comply with our anti-pollution laws, it was decided to offer only the 998cc version.
The Hydrolastic suspension was gradually phased out through cost reasons, and the original 'dry' suspension retained.
By now, the Mini's age was beginning to catch up with it, as its competition came from Toyota, Datsun and Mazda, but it kept selling right up to 1978. By this time, a few specials came along, such as the SS, the Sunshine Special, the LS and the 1275LS, and these helped promote the image. It was the last of these that was Mini's swan song in Australia with only 400 produced.

The Moke, however, continued through various guises and engines. The most outrageous was the Californian which could be had in 1973 with a floral top. A 'utility' version was announced in 1979, but the Moke staggered on till 1981 as the only Mini representative here, before the tools to make them had been sold off to the Portuguese.

Minis which were not available officially here, but are occasionally seen include Austin, Wolseley and Riley versions, the Austin Mini Countryman and Morris Mini Travellor, the Pick Up, Cooper Mark 111, and any 1980s and 90s specials, such as City, Mayfair and Ritz versions.

We sent the wind-up window door kits to the South Africans who produced another bewildering array of Minis. These included a Wolseley 1000 (it didn't have an extended boot) and an Austin version which did have an extended boot. We did export to New Zealand Austin versions of our cars, but they didn't have the rippled grille; they made do with the Morris grille with an Austin badge. Mokes made their way all over the world, some as far as Greece, and of course on this side of the Pacific.

All in all, about 212,000 Minis in all guises were sold in Australia. For something that was given a welcoming birth, it lasted for an extraordinary time, and still has as strong a following now as it did over forty years ago.

Nor would he have thought that it would still be in production, with the same basic shape, forty years later.

If the Mini was born because of the brilliance of Issigonis, the Mini Cooper owes its birth to the genius of John Cooper, already a World Champion racing car constructor when the Mini was released in 1959. The Cooper Formula Junior cars were powered by modified BMC A-series engines bought from the BMC plant. At the time Issigonis was technical director.Cooper was well aware of the Mini's development and its racing potential. He persuaded BMC to loan him an early production version so he could carry out performance modifications.

The prototype Mini Cooper which resulted, featured a 997cc Formula Junior engine and 7inch disc brakes on the front.The new car was well received by those who test drove it. Cooper sensed that he was on to a winner, so he sought the support from Issigonis to persuade BMC to produce the 1000 cars required to meet group 2 homologation racing regulations. Issigonis refused to help, as the Mini as he saw it, was never designed to be a sports saloon.

John Cooper appealed to the then managing director of BMC and although sceptical that 1000 cars could be sold, agreed and also granted Cooper a royalty for every car built.Production of the 997 Mini Cooper began in July 1961. Apart the duo-tone paint, special grille and badging, there was little to distinguish this hot Mini from the more sedate 850. The big difference was of course in the engine - with twin SU carburettors - and the upgraded running gear. Other changes were the 100mph speedo, oil and temperature gauges in a revised oval binnacle and a remote gear change lever.

In all, 24,860 Cooper 997's were produced before it was replaced by the shorter stroked 998cc version in November 1963.Knowing that the 997 engine had reached the end of its development potential and that to keep both the Mini and Junior Formula cars competitive on the racetrack, Cooper was keen to move up into the 1100cc class. The long 81.28mm stroke of the 997 engine was not conductive to high revving and increasing the bore to a planned 64.58mm left very little between cylinders, so it was obvious that a re-designed engine was required.The development of the new engine was undertaken. It featured 'siamesed' bores, 2inch diameter big-end journals, nitrided crankshaft and a big valve cylinder head. The re-designed engine was unlike any other A-series engine produced at the time.Just as the 997 engine heralded the birth of the Cooper, this 1071cc engine was to be the launching pad of the Cooper S, which was announced in March 1963. Production got under way in late April.The 1071's free revving 68.2mm short-stroke power unit delivered 15bhp more than the Mini Cooper, giving it a top speed around 95mph which was good for a car of that size at that time. The braking system was upgraded to cope with the extra speed with 71/2 inch discs on the front and boosted by a hydrovac servo. The only difference between the Cooper and the Cooper S were the addition of the S badge on the bonnet and boot, ventilated wheels and a 120mph speedo. Options available for the 1071 included an oil cooler, sump guard, close ratio gears and right hand tank.

Before the year was out 2 new Cooper models were released and Paddy Hopkirk and Henry Liddon became national heroes after winning the Monte Carlo Rally in 33EJB, a 1071 Cooper S.From June 1964 to April 1965, the Cooper S 970cc version was introduced. The power unit had the standard 70.6mm bore common to all Cooper S models, but the 970S had an ultra short stroke of 61.9mm, giving it a phenomenal revving capability. Only 963 cars were made.In March 1964, the 1275cc Cooper S was launched and was immediately a runaway success. The long stroke of 81.28mm, the same as the 997cc Cooper, gave a distinctive note to the exhaust, pushed it from 0 to 60mph in 10.9 seconds and gave it a top speed of nearly 100mph. But few cars are perfect from birth and the 1275 S was no exception. Its alarming thirst for oil, over heating and high fuel consumption meant that an Oil Cooler and right hand tank were much used options and became standard equipment from January 1966.

With the launch of the 1275cc S, the Cooper had come of age. On 28th August 1964 the 1071cc S ceased production after rolling out 4031 units, just before hydrolastic suspension was introduced on the 1275 S in September 1964.