I found this old advert for Dunlop wheels.
The ad says a set of them is £40 (or, if you can't swing that, you can pay £5 a month for 9 months). Honestly, how cheap are you? ;D
Well, it's not an 'accessory', but kinda fundamental. Rubery Owen proud they could produce a Mini front subframe in less than one minute.
One of the aftermarket suppliers of rollup windows for Mk. I and II cars. (and vans and pickups too)
That would have been nice to have. The windows too.
Ad for the launch of the Coopers (and Supers, too).
Back before it was called a "Mini". My first car was a 1962 Austin Seven. Said right so on the boot.
I remember buying an British car magazine when I was a teenager and this was the advert on the back cover.
Selling the Clubman in Oz. Wouldn't be great if you could buy a brand new one now for just $3K?
Surfing in South Africa. Regulations in South Africa meant every car had to have a pair of white reflectors facing forward - on the Mini they were put under the headlights.
Note that it is Mk. I, but with roll-up windows like an Oz Mini.
Apparently the Mini went through a phase where a vinyl top was a "thing".
Racing sells cars.
Interesting that's it's smoking the loaded tire and not the unloaded one.....
Thanks for posting these, they're fun! 4.gif
Quote from: MiniDave on October 10, 2017, 12:59:04 PM
Interesting that's it's smoking the loaded tire and not the unloaded one.....
Thanks for posting these, they're fun! 4.gif
Glad you like 'em.
Hey! We made the rack and pinon that won the Monte!!
Quote from: MiniDave on October 10, 2017, 12:59:04 PM
Interesting that's it's smoking the loaded tire and not the unloaded one.....
I've seen a lot of photos of old Minis doing the same thing.
Huh, you'd think it would be smoking the inside tire.....
I understand why the front tires would smoke, but why are they turned on a drag strip?
(Truth in advertising = torque steer? :D )
Makes a good point.
Selling the Clubman GT
I think this person loves her Mini! "When everything else goes wrong, your Mini will still love you" 4.gif
Why not get a Traveller? It's got "room for a lively, sprawling family" !
In 1960 this would have been the estate model with the interior fuel tank, before BMC mounted it under the car.
The Mini was the car of choice for German hippies!
(actually, nearly everyone I knew looked like that back in the 1970s)
Google says Spardose = Money Box, which I guess means piggy bank?
Also, I see that the car has reverse wheels. That was never an option, right? And I can't imagine the German TUV approving them on a brand new production car.
Sums it up nicely.
my old man likes looking at those ads back in the day
A Winter-themed Mini advertisement.
Retro Uber? Nope.
Just a suggestion to call a Mini dealership to arrange for a test ride in a new Mini.
Selling great fuel economy to the masses.
ERA Turbo ad playing on Italian Job theme.
my favorite... stuck as wallpaper on my ancient iPod Touch
I like that ad. Not too many Almond Green Minis were used.
Who would have guess The Flintstones influenced a Mini ad? Based upon the surf theme and the license plate size, this seems to be for Oz built Minis.
A few I have.
more
where in the world do you guys find all these.. they are quite fun..
A few more, also I need to take pictures of all the old posters mini ads and posters I have and post as well.
Wow. I love that last photo of the packed room with Minis on shelves? Is that from Japan? Or the Netherlands? (seem to be a lot of Dutch plates)
Awesome ads guys ! ! Keepm' comin'
Well done.
Lucas pitching as an OEM supplier to BMC.
Mr. Bean sells out for the Japanese market!
Reviving an old thread.
How is this for a rich, feature-based print advertisement? Our new model has "big wheels"! ;D
Back when the Aussies improved the Moke.
An actual TV commercial right after the Mini's launch. It's got crazy animation too. Looking mighty fine in gray color.
It's British, yet they use the word trunk. Huh?
And here is a long Mini TV commercial from Australia.
There's some pretty racy sexual innuendo in this one.
This was such a '60s phenomenon With multiple manufacturers which really died out by the 70s.
Aerodynamics?
That nose conversion reminds me of the old Subaru 360s.
(https://img.hmn.com/fit-in/450x253/filters:upscale()/stories/2018/08/625679.jpg)
The radius on the wheel wells on the Sprint looks odd?
Quote from: MiniDave on July 28, 2022, 05:59:24 PM
The radius on the wheel wells on the Sprint looks odd?
Odd? How about this version?
An ad for a contest to win the 1,000,000th Mini built, some 57 years ago, and the actual car more recently.
I guess the advertising guys thought it was going to be a dark colored car... but when it came down the assembly line it wasn't.
The car in this ad, 731 HOP, is pretty famous. It was a test car in a number of car magazines and it also appeared on TV as the main character's Mini in at least one TV series: "Secret Agent" (aka "Danger Man") with Patrick McGoohan (Who later starred in "The Prisoner" with some Mini Mokes).
Ad for post-1973 Mini in Canadian market big bumper trim.
I don't remember the turn signals below the bumper, I thought they were in the grill? 8.gif
Interesting marketing angle. Not sure it would fly today.
Quote from: MiniDave on August 02, 2022, 07:21:27 AM
I don't remember the turn signals below the bumper, I thought they were in the grill? 8.gif
I've seen Canadian cars with them in both places. Must've changed over at some point.
Quote from: BruceK on August 02, 2022, 08:47:31 AM
Quote from: MiniDave on August 02, 2022, 07:21:27 AM
I don't remember the turn signals below the bumper, I thought they were in the grill? 8.gif
I've seen Canadian cars with them in both places. Must've changed over at some point.
Here's an ad with them in the grille. I'm guessing they probably tended to rust and drop off when they were below the bumper. ;D
And the much larger side marker/reflector on the front fender!
aHHH, the Canadian Fugly bumpers and lights. I knew them well. (and hated them)
My '79 had the signal lights in the grill. They're quite a bit larger than the normal front signal lights. The front fenders have round pieces of sheet metal spot welded on top of the holes for the signal lights.
Quote from: ve9aa on August 02, 2022, 01:48:23 PM
aHHH, the Canadian Fugly bumpers and lights. I knew them well. (and hated them)
Don't get me started. The front bumper mounts to a pair of bars that are bolted to the front subframe mounts on the bottom and to the fender at the top. As you can imagine, the front fenders have a bunch of extra bracing where the bar attaches. This bracing is, obviously, designed to catch dirt kicked up by the tires.
That's all relatively solid compared to the rear bumper, which was just bolted to the boot lid, which would get bent from the weight.
Quote from: skmini on August 02, 2022, 03:25:15 PM
That's all relatively solid compared to the rear bumper, which was just bolted to the boot lid, which would get bent from the weight.
Plus, don't forget the added "protection" of the little bumperettes that sat under the taillights.
Quote from: BruceK on August 02, 2022, 05:10:07 PM
Plus, don't forget the added "protection" of the little bumperettes that sat under the taillights.
And all the extra brackets spot welded inside the boot to support and reinforce those bumperettes. They completely engulfed the rear subframe attachment reinforcements between the floor and the wheel well. The bumperettes were the most heavily reinforced part of the whole setup.
How about the not-too-different-looking-from-a-Mini-850 Mk 3 Cooper S? By the time these were produced only the boot badge and holey wheels were the external clues it was an S. Must be part of the reason there were so many fake Mk 3 Cooper S models created.
I don't think I've seen this factory color on a Mini before.
Beauty colour! Aqua, just like mine. You can see it in my profile pic.
Tim.
Cool. Nice to learn what that color is called.
Need some headroom?
When I was a teenager I used to ride my bike over to the local Lotus dealer and I would drool over the John Player Special edition Europa models. They look so cool painted black with the JPS gold pin striping and emblems to commemorate the F1 sponsorship of the Lotus Grand Prix team.
Who knew there was also a JPS edition Mini model!? Also black with gold pinstriping and JPS emblems. I'd love to have one of these.
Artistic license? This estate sure looks longer than it is in real life. But still, a nice illustration.
I find this thread very nostalgic.
Enjoying it !
Great. Glad you are liking it.
Here's a Mini ad from Australia back when the country's currency was still in £'s and hadn't switched to decimal $'s yet.
I'll have to take a pic of the innocenti advertisement I bought that's hanging in my spare room.
Love to see it.
I'm the meantime, here is a Innocenti ad.
Funny you should show the John Player Special. I just picked this one up the other day. Now's your opportunity to own one 😂.
Tim
Well.......the remains of one anyway! :-\
Partial to the Australian one. Lol. Looks like mine was an upgraded model then cause I don't se the chrome door trim on this one. Of course I've left it off cause I actually like the look better without it.
I have this framed up.
Quote from: Tim on August 06, 2022, 05:51:36 AM
Funny you should show the John Player Special. I just picked this one up the other day. Now's your opportunity to own one 😂.
Tim
That'll polish right up Tim. Bring it to Cars n' Coffee next weekend?
;-)
Quote from: cstudep on August 06, 2022, 01:33:57 PM
I have this framed up.
Wow. Never seen that ad before. Seems more modern than the early 1960s.
I have no idea what it is from, I assume it is from a magazine or something but it is page 117, so maybe a catalog of some sort. This is on the back side, page 118.
The add in the lower right corner of the back side for The Lobster restaurant indicates "now in its 41st year" and the restaurant opened in 1919 (found on this website via searching the restaurant name and address https://www.cardcow.com/105869/lobster-145-w-45th-new-york/ (https://www.cardcow.com/105869/lobster-145-w-45th-new-york/)).
That means the ad is likely from a publication in 1960.
Quote from: MPlayle on August 06, 2022, 07:43:23 PM
The add in the lower right corner of the back side for The Lobster restaurant indicates "now in its 41st year" and the restaurant opened in 1919 (found on this website via searching the restaurant name and address https://www.cardcow.com/105869/lobster-145-w-45th-new-york/ (https://www.cardcow.com/105869/lobster-145-w-45th-new-york/)).
That means the ad is likely from a publication in 1960.
Nice bit of investigative work!
Good detective work! So, 62 years ago the restaurant was 41 years old!
Another obscure special edition Mini, apparently for the French market, the Printemps (Springtime).
And yet another completely different set of side marker lamps.
No yellow headlights?
Looks like a Leyland badge on the front, so that sort of determines the era, right?
And even brandy new the door doesn't fit well at the bottom edge! ::)
France kept the yellow headlights up to the early 1990s, and that is definitely a pre-1984 Mini. Perhaps the ad was for the French-speaking parts of Belgium or Switzerland?
Yeah, the poor door fit speaks to how they were built in "the good old days" doesn't it?
A search for "Austin Mini Printemps" came up with this site that indicates it was a 500 unit edition for France in 1979.
https://www.austinminiwebsearch.com/printemps.html (https://www.austinminiwebsearch.com/printemps.html)
Quote from: MPlayle on August 07, 2022, 11:20:04 AM
A search for "Austin Mini Printemps" came up with this site that indicates it was a 500 unit edition for France in 1979.
https://www.austinminiwebsearch.com/printemps.html (https://www.austinminiwebsearch.com/printemps.html)
Ah. It was France eh? So perhaps it had yellow bulbs sitting in clear headlamp reflectors?
I see by the specs it also has "un tableau de bord en bois" which I believe is a wooden dashboard. So fancy!
A nice box of "go faster".
The Mini 25 model introduced the changes for the Mk V version of the Mini in 1984. Twelve inch wheels, 8.4 inch disc brakes, and wheel arch flares were some of the new improvements. In fact, every single Mini made for the next 16 years was fitted with some type of flares.
Umm. I want to discuss this ad, but I'm not sure what particular points to mention.
I can think of 2.......... 127.gif
The idea sounds good but this didn't seem to catch on.
Is that the scoop on the right-hand side of the ad?
Wait. You mean you don't need a giant SUV or a minivan to transport a miniature human?
Quote from: BruceK on August 11, 2022, 04:34:33 PM
The idea sounds good but this didn't seem to catch on.
Is that the scoop on the right-hand side of the ad?
So...it mounts on a roofrack or something and acts like a tubular horizontal turbine?
I've obvious never tried it, but my little lizard brain tells me it would be no match for air flows around a car at highway speeds.
(standing still, maybe)
Like using a hair drier outside on a cold winters windy day. Won't happen !
Quote from: BruceK on August 11, 2022, 04:37:09 PM
Wait. You mean you don't need a giant SUV or a minivan to transport a miniature human?
Every (and I do mean E-V-E-R-Y) time I see a nice Mini Traveler, I wish I had held out for one. I just love the ultilitarian look of them and have personally owned lots of station wagons, hatch backs and small pickups and SUV's. I pretty much always end up "hauling stuff around".
Don't get me wrong, I love my Austin Mini City-E, but a traveler would be uber cool to have. Even a Clubby Estate. Almost bought one from Big Al one time, but money was real tight that year and the deal didn't go down. I miss Big Al and all those Minis he had for sale. (RIP Big Guy)
From Oz, a Clubman Van.
Lovely ! !
Isn't it a Clubman Clubvan? ;D
Not a Mini ad of course, but I'm including it here to show how the Mini's front end styling - including the iconic grille design - was really just based upon other larger Austin models.
An ad from South Africa. The Mini was sold alongside the Apache, which was basically a Morris 1100 (Austin America) with a South Africa-only front end design and a boot tacked on. Sort of sort of what happened with the Elf & Hornet with the Mini.
Quote from: BruceK on August 17, 2022, 06:37:27 PM
Not a Mini ad of course, but I'm including it here to show how the Mini's front end styling - including the iconic grille design - was really just based upon other larger Austin models.
For 1/2 a second I nearly thought that car in the foreground was a 1960's Volvo 122S
( I know the grill is a bit different ). Many mfr's of cars in that era used similarish styling Q's
(Big fenders/wings and headlights for example)
Very nice !
That Apache looked more like a 60's/70's Audi to me!
https://images.app.goo.gl/SxJLBWkDJjxvC22y7 (https://images.app.goo.gl/SxJLBWkDJjxvC22y7)
I think these might have sold well in the US if they had been available here with the 13" wheels and the pickup bed.
Quote from: MiniDave on August 18, 2022, 11:25:10 AM
That Apache looked more like a 60's/70's Audi to me!
https://images.app.goo.gl/SxJLBWkDJjxvC22y7 (https://images.app.goo.gl/SxJLBWkDJjxvC22y7)
Yeah, I see the similarities.
More Apache. https://www.aronline.co.uk/cars/bmc/1100-1300/11001300-international-variations/austin-apache/
Quote from: BruceK on August 18, 2022, 05:49:58 PM
I think these might have sold well in the US if they had been available here with the 13" wheels and the pickup bed.
Me likey ! Kinda like a Japanese Kei class mini/micro truck. (but bigger!) (nobodies said that about a MOKE, I'll bet)
The Mascot. Sold in Denmark. And other places?
The Mini name is completely absent from this ad.
Almost forgot, I was going to post this. Trying to get in closer in the pic to where you can read the text.
Cool. From what I can understand through Google, Koelliker was an Italian dealership chain who offered the Mini and gave customers a fire and theft policy too.
Jon from Belgium (Minimania, but I think I've seen him here too!) has a very nice Mini Mascot.
Back when adding alloy wheels to your car was a really big thing.
The introduction of the Mini estates in 1961. Still calling the Austin version of the Mini the "Seven".
At this time the estates came with the fuel tank mounted internally in the passenger compartment (!) before the switch later to the fuel tank mounted under the floor behind the rear subframe.
Heres a brochure of a Mini Moke that was never actually made - as far as I know. My understanding is this handout was used to try to sell the Moke to different governments for their various militaries. When that effort failed and no military wanted it, BMC decided to offer the Moke to the general public as a fun runabout.
And here's the Moke as first released to the public.
Here's a prototype Moke - note that the side pod/pontoons were not finalized at this point. But the Moke's front end styling was. So that makes the "military version" styling even more curious...
The 'Military styling' one is very similar to a South African Moke. Same shortened wheel base and the different front end. They also ended up with a hinged side panel. Still some around. http://www.sedgeclasscars.co.za/car-details.php?CarID=2486
Tim
Tim, Wow. In 50+ years of being a complete Mini fanatic and reading and absorbing everything I could find about Minis, I have never seen a South African Moke before. I didn't even know it existed. Mind blown. I mean, I know about English Mokes, and Australian Mokes, and Portuguese Mokes, and Chinese "Mokes", and American "Mokes" but I never knew about the South African one. I'd love to know more about it. Like why the shorter wheelbase and lower lights? Lots of other little detail differences, including the folding windshield.
That one is for sale for 110,000 rand, so less than US$6,400. Quite a nice price.
I'll look up more info for you, but from what I remember, there were at least 6 prototype, short wheel base Moke's, built in SA for testing. These later found there way into public hands. I'll read through a couple of resources and let you know.
Tim
Very true!!
Keep'r comin' Bruce. :-\
This is my favorite running thread on the entire interwebs. 4.gif
Does that make me nostalgic? No idea. 17.gif
Thanks Mike!
Here's an Innocenti.
Back when every Mini had only a central speedometer and no supplemental gauges this was an aftermarket way to get some more instrumentation.
That dash is actually available today at this French website.
https://www.datch.fr/en/dashboards-c-45_4516_451613.html (https://www.datch.fr/en/dashboards-c-45_4516_451613.html)
Available in either LHD or RHD.
Crazy that it's still available. I saw the price of over €700 and I thought it was crazy until I realized that it includes all the gauges and speedometer.
Yeah, a speedo from MiniSpares is like half of that cost.
BTW Bruce, do you still have any of those old speedos? The one in Clancy's Moke is broken and I was hoping to fix him up on the cheap.....
Dave,
Let me check my stuff as I may still have the old one from the white Moke. I put an electronic one in the Moke.
Thanks Michael!!!
I found one of my spare speedos and sent it to Dan a couple of weeks ago. But looks like Michael has you covered for Clancy.
This ad looks like it's for one of the first aftermarket mufflers that exited through the center of the car.
I love these English addresses......"Lever st, Little Lever, near Bolton"
Mine might be "Hadley Pl, off Antioch, near Overland Park" 77.gif
My brother's actual address is "Three Elms, Little Cowarne, Herefordshire" That's it.
The special edition Mini Cooper 35th anniversary model.
Quote from: MiniDave on September 08, 2022, 05:40:47 AM
I love these English addresses......"Lever st, Little Lever, near Bolton"
Mine might be "Hadley Pl, off Antioch, near Overland Park" 77.gif
My brother's actual address is "Three Elms, Little Cowarne, Herefordshire" That's it.
How about the phone number? Farnworth 1935. Much like the old phone numbers in the US with catchy (and memorable) exchange names. When I was a kid our family's home phone number was Twinbrook 2 8252. Nowadays nobody has to remember any phone number.
MItchell 9-7099, we had it for about 10 years is all.....I never knew the ones for the homes before that, and I only know the one I have now because Rose has had it as her house line since the 70's!
The Super model of the 850. This model and the 850 de Luxe model (which were later combined into a single model: the Super de Luxe) had many of the "upmarket" trim pieces and features that were then used on the first Mini Coopers (e.g. bumper overiders, chrome trim around the front windows, key starter instead of the push button on the floor, etc).
This model also had a special version of the "wavy" grill with vertical slats in the troughs of the waves.
With optional small dog roof ornament? ;D
When you think Mini 1275GT you naturally think of a sporty Mini Clubman.
But... there was a round nose version of the 1275GT made in Spain by Authi.
And apparently, the best way to sell them was to have women sit on top of the cars.
Wonder how they fixed all those dents after ::)
Booty shaped dents probably increased its value. ;D
Did the minis come with window stickers or some form of them? If so, does anyone make reproductions or the like of them.
I'm glad this dash design didn't catch on. Looks like it belongs on a tractor.
Who knew that McLaren F1 designer Gordon Murray owned a Mini Midas?
Interesting to me that sometime, around 1963-1965, there was a major switch in automobile advertising from illustrated brochures to photographic brochures. Seem to happen about the same time in both the US and the UK.
Anyway, here's an illustrated brochure selling the Pickup.
Selling a special edition called "Special". That took a lot of imagination.
Wood & Pickett. Besides creating some incredible customized Minis, their namesake wheel arches live on as a classic Mini accessory.
It looks like that W&P has vent windows?
Quote from: MiniDave on September 13, 2022, 07:43:58 AM
It looks like that W&P has vent windows?
Oh yeah. They equipped those cars like miniature Rolls-Royce's and I'm sure it had power windows too. And full Connolly leather and Wilton carpets.
From the age of never ending Mini special editions.
Putting on the...
These types of roof tents are enjoying modern renaissance these days. But here they were on Minis 60 years ago.
Are those alloys on the Ritz, or hubcaps on steelies?
Quote from: BruceK on September 13, 2022, 05:35:25 AM
Selling a special edition called "Special". That took a lot of imagination.
I can't tell for sure..picture is kinda small, but that looks like the same steering wheel I have in my car.
My interior is (mostly) from a early 90's
British Open Classic.My wheel is tan in colour and leather covered.
(I have to laugh at some of the names they came up with. Plain, but they kinda "stuck" over the decades, eh?)
Mine's an Austin Mini
City-E (wtf is a city-e? LOL)
Quote from: MiniDave on September 14, 2022, 04:46:23 PM
Are those alloys on the Ritz, or hubcaps on steelies?
Looking at the back wheel in the photo I don't see any lug nuts or center cap covering up lugnuts so I believe it's just a silver plastic hubcap.
I'm looking for other pictures of the Ritz model....
Edit: found a good Ritz wheel photo. I'm now backtracking and saying it looks like a decent alloy wheel with a cover over the lugnut/hub section. Looks like there's a little notch (at 9 o'clock in the photo) to gain access to pop the center cap off. No reason to mold that in if it was a plastic hubcap.
Edit #2: found a much better photo and definitely it is an alloy wheel. And oh so 1980s in design. But I like it!
Quiz: where is this car from?
Well, I would have thought Australia with that stripe over the hood, but no vent windows so - South Africa?
Quote from: MiniDave on September 14, 2022, 08:41:53 PM
Well, I would have thought Australia with that stripe over the hood, but no vent windows so - South Africa?
Yup. Also the door handles aren't the later flush Oz type. Oh, there are two white reflectors on either side of the headlights – a South African safety requirement. Of all the various stripe graphic designs on Minis, I think this is the best.
A later Innocenti Mini with the pretty Bertone designed body featuring a hatchback.
Quote from: BruceK on September 15, 2022, 07:10:38 AM
Of all the various stripe graphic designs on Minis, I think this is the best.
I think it looks good with the clubman front end for sure, not as sure it would look as good on the regular mini front end. It might look ok though.
This Mini accessory makes absolutely no sense to me. (And it comes from a respected Mini tuning firm, not some fly-by-night company)
Firstly, it requires the installation of an intermediate bracket onto the wheel hub to support the rod, so you'd need to modify the car before you could first use it, and Secondly why in the heck would you need to hand crank a little 1,400 lbs car that you can literally push with one hand to pop start it? I mean if a Mini owner was having ongoing problems with starting the car, why not fix the problems instead of investing in this primitive solution?
So why did they make it?
Good question ! :-\
I actually bump started my car in a flat parking lot one day nearly all by myself.
A much older gentleman wandered by and "helped push" (I am being kind) and so anyways, I think
I popped it in 2nd gear and was likely going 2mph and it fired right up !
Not understanding the crank handle on a Mini. (I guess if you were stuck in the mud or snow or at the bottom of a hill?)
As an aside, my 1961 Land Rover Series I had a crank handle and hole in the bumper. I never tried it. Always had visions
of breaking arms or having the Landy run over me I guess ::)
Show girls? Hookers? Obviously the British sense of Piccadilly is lost in translation.
Looks 80's?
BTW, thanks for posting these, they're fun to look at!
I always get so annoyed seeing people laying on the car lol. Get your boney ass off there and stop denting it!
Selling the automatic Mini in Australia and pointing out that you can shift through the gears as you drive.
That shifting gears capability kind of goes against the whole reason of getting an automatic, doesn't it?
The one automatic I had I think had 1, 2 and drive..maybe it had a 3 in there too. Been awhile. You could make it like a manual but no clutch work required. Automatic rx7's were similar.
Mini marketing for France. " The big solution for automobile problems". This had an 1100 engine. I don't think the round nose front ever got the 1100 in the UK market.
The Jet Black special edition 998 Mini of 1988. (My Mini came out of the factory as a Jet Black model, but it's the complete opposite now)
Jet white? ;D
Another ad from Oz. Apparently the copywriter learned what a simile was in grade school and wanted to make all the Mini similes at once.
Back when £199 could buy stuff!
Not a traditional Mini ad, but an attention-getter advertisement nonetheless.
Mini illustration. Again we have miniature people - miniature luggage too! Trying to make the car look bigger?
And a very small but perfectly proportioned miniature man, who can barely see over the roof, loads a Mini Van in this illustration.
People were smaller in the 60's, so was their luggage! ;D
Also, the cars were taller then.....60 years later, well - gravity, you know..... :D
You know and shrinking when you wash it. But the tiny people are interesting.
Back in the day a Mini Van could be purchased in the UK classified as a commercial vehicle which meant lower purchase taxes than a passenger vehicle. So the trick was to buy a 2 seater Van to avoid the tax, and later purchase an official BMC kit to add a fold-down backseat. Perfect for the plumber or other tradesman. Truck during the work week, and family car on the weekends.
Here's the kit. And a photo showing the window-less claustrophobic rear seat in use.
An ad from the Mini revival era of the late 80s and early 90s. Yeah, they were counting on nostalgia from the 1960s and they weren't hiding that at all.
From what I remember about high school French, I believe this ad says "if they didn't exist at this time, we'd have to invent them"
Keep'm comin' Bruce. 4.gif
I found a page showing some "new" CDN Minis and was gonna post it, but there may have been copyright issues -and- I didn't wanna steal your thunder. You are the *KING* of this thread. 23.gif
So,.,,,if you can find one with the Canadian Fugly bumpers and huge bugeye signal lights, that would be funny ! 69.gif
Cheers 66.gif
Post whatever you want - like all threads here it's a totally open to what you want to say or add (other than politics that is). Heck I'm just finding these old Mini ads on the Internet and sharing them here.
There were a couple of Canadian market adverts shown earlier, but show us some more ones if you have 'em. Back about 30 years ago I owned a '79 Mini from Canada. I removed the big ugly bumpers and added chrome ones, but it still had the sidemarker lights.
An ad for the Innocenti Mini Cooper shows an unusual angle of the car.
Usually don't see Paddy Hopkirk with a Clubman, but why not?!
True dat.
The Sky and Rose special editions geared toward women.
We had some folks with a "Sky" here and I liked the white/blue top combination..... 77.gif
The IMA Mini estate built in Portugal had a single rear door instead of the twin "barn doors" found on Minis in other markets. Not sure how much a person had to stoop down to get under that door to load and unload the car.
Beautiful color illustrations. Officially the car is being called the Austin Mini now instead of the Austin Seven, so that places this ad as after 1961.
Quote from: BruceK on September 30, 2022, 05:53:39 PM
The IMA Mini estate built in Portugal had a single rear door instead of the twin "barn doors" found on Minis in other markets. Not sure how much a person had to stoop down to get under that door to load and unload the car.
Maybe Europeans were shorter in the 1960's? ;-) :-X
An ad for Minis from a US magazine in the early 1960s.
Some things stick out to me:
- the word "Mini" is totally absent in the ad
- the Cooper model is sporting whitewall tires!
- the ad states there were over 1,000 (!) Austin-MG dealers in the US/Canada. (For comparison, these days there are currently about 1,000 Nissan dealerships in the US, and BMC achieved that coverage 60 years ago)
A nice simple and clean looking Mini ad/brochure.
Quote from: BruceK on October 03, 2022, 01:35:45 PM
An ad for Minis from a US magazine in the early 1960s.
Some things stick out to me:
- the word "Mini" is totally absent in the ad
- the Cooper model is sporting whitewall tires!
- the ad states there were over 1,000 (!) Austin-MG dealers in the US/Canada. (For comparison, these days there are currently about 1,000 Nissan dealerships in the US, and BMC achieved that coverage 60 years ago)
I can believe it ! I was only about 16-17 when they stopped sending Minis to Canada, but up until then, even in my tiny city in NB, Canada, we had a dealership selling Minis.
The Mini estate by Innocenti. Easier to see some differences in this ad: the license plate is handled differently, and the rear tail lights are different from the English version (they look like Fiat units). Instead of two small bumperettes, there's a full width rear bumper. And I don't think that chrome trim on the side at doorhandle height was ever used on other Minis? And chrome wheel arch trim is unusual for an estate. I wonder if the car's "T" designation was short for Traveller?
This ad seems to be for dealer-installed air conditioning for the JDM market?
This cropped image with no text looks to be from a Portuguese Cagiva Moke brochure.
A German language ad for the newly launched Mini.
Here's an Australian example of "race on Sunday, sell on Monday".
Sombody liked this ad for the Innocenti Mini Cooper 1300 enough to hold on to this ragged copy of it.
In the days before seatbelts, I guess you could pack the entire girls soccer team into one Mini.
A British Leyland promotional photo showing the 4 millionth Mini was a Clubman. And based on the model's outfit, this was in the winter.
MMM, that white Clubman is tasty. 77.gif
I just turned my room upside down looking for a Brochure I bought off ebay back in the mid 2000's for an 87 Austin Mini City-E and do you think I could find it? No way. :-[
I did however find most of the service records and whatnot for my car going back decades. Pretty cool names (Wales) for the business and streetnames over there. :-\
Keep'\m comin ! :D
Yeah looks great in while. A 1275GT with the Dunlop Denovo runflat tires. That would have been the top-of-the-line Mini at that point in time.
The Innocenti Mini Cooper 1300 Export model.
Looking at the stickers on the boot lid, it seems the big markets for it were France, Italy, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.
The Canadian market Mini with its big bumpers and side marker lights was really ugly. But how is it possible to make it uglier? Just add approved accessories Such as front air dam, mudflaps, huge wheel arches, massive side decals, and rear window louvers!
An old ad from the 1960s, but somehow the car color seems off? Looks brown on my phone but maybe it's supposed to be maroon?
Quote from: BruceK on October 13, 2022, 09:48:55 PM
An old ad from the 1960s, but somehow the car color seems off? Looks brown on my phone but maybe it's supposed to be maroon?
Ohhh! That's a weird p00py brown colour, eh?
Not sure I've seen that before, least of which on a LWB Mini
A BMC publicity photo showing the recently launched Mini out and about in the English countryside. I guess in the days before GPS navigation sometimes it was hard to unfold a big map inside the car. Better to lay it out on the bonnet!
Four special editions launched at the same time.
Another special edition 998 Mini.
The popup sunroof (ugh!) helps identify this from the launch of the RSP (Rover Special Products) Mini Cooper. That was the special run of 1,050 cars to test the waters about possibly re-launching the Cooper as a mainstream model in Rover's lineup for the 1990s. And the tie-in to the Italian Job movie didn't hurt one bit. Obviously the RSP Cooper was very successful!
Yeah, I really don't like my popup sunroof......besides rattling like crazy, I don't think it does anything to help ventilate the car. However, mine only rattles when open and it doesn't leak - so it has that going for it, which is nice.....
I used to like them. I bought a new car back in the 80s and paid the dealer to install a popup sunroof. Now I dislike any kind of sunroof and prefer a solid roof.
I do too, but the bride has to have her moonroof in any car she gets. I never open them but she does, even in winter......
That's one of the reasons I ordered my Clubman S, even tho they had a bunch in stock - I did not want a sunroof and they all had them......
I had a popup sunroof in my first mini, and like Dave says they are pretty useless. What made mine worse is I think it was an aftermarket additional and you could feel the shell flex.
Every since then I have tried to avoid getting cars with them, if they do have them I never use them.
The other feature I hate along the same lines is a panoramic glass roof! Even in the UK it makes the car unbearably hot, like driving around in a green house.
Quote from: Brit_in_TX on October 27, 2022, 03:54:30 PM
I had a popup sunroof in my first mini, and like Dave says they are pretty useless. What made mine worse is I think it was an aftermarket additional and you could feel the shell flex.
Every since then I have tried to avoid getting cars with them, if they do have them I never use them.
The other feature I hate along the same lines is a panoramic glass roof! Even in the UK it makes the car unbearably hot, like driving around in a green house.
We had a rental Fiat 500 Hybrid in the UK last week and it had a large fixed glass panel over the entire driver and front passenger area. Fortunately it had a pull shade that helped keep the sun out but the biggest help for that was rain and cloudy weather!
Apparently this old ad is saying "A Mk II Mini can help boys catch girls". Figuratively and apparently literally too.
Switched on?
I wonder what they meant by that?
Jason Torchinsky (formerly of Jalopnik, now the Autopian) does a whole series on old car ads from the 50's/60's called "Cold Start"
It would be fun to feed him some of these Mini adverts.... ;D
The car is RHD. With the round bonnet badge and white relectors between the headlights and turn signals, I am guessing one of three sources: Australian, New Zealander, or South African.
Dave, I think "switched on" is one of those groovy, hip 1960s phrases that Austin Powers would say.
OK, this is not technically an ad for a Mini. But it's for the Mini's older brother by the same father.
Do you think that is 0 to 60 time of 28 seconds with something to brag about. We are so spoiled now.
But..............that was twice as fast!!!! ;D
I'm trying to figure out this ad.
I guess the message is: the Mini is small enough to deal with an emergency while you run to the public outdoor urinals in France?
This ad artwork makes the headlights look nearly twice the size they really are!
:-X
Quote from: BruceK on November 12, 2022, 09:11:47 AM
This ad artwork makes the headlights look nearly twice the size they really are!
Back when the Mini was being marketed as a family car with room for all the kiddos.
Sure, the guy looks like a Bond villain wearing only white and holding a black cat, but nice, clean looking Mini!
Back when the Morris version of the Mini 850 came with a stamped steel grille painted white. This ad is for the Mascot which was a model name used in Denmark (and Germany too?). Not sure why, but believe it had to do with copyright issues.
RHD in LHD countries?
Quote from: LarryLebel on November 30, 2022, 10:30:15 PMRHD in LHD countries?
I'm guessing they just used a stock photo for the ad. Should have flipped the image I guess.
Looks like they sorted that out by 1978. :)
Mmmm. Ferebeilen :great:
I agree with this ad's message! Driving a Mini clears out my head.
This seems to be a promotional photo or an advertisement. But I have no idea what the message is.
The picture comes from an advertising brochure called "The Mighty Mini". I once had a copy of this brochure but it's long gone now.
Said picture was the last page of the brochure. Another page had a picture of "An All Dressed Mini". I think it was a Canadian with the funky bumpers and the only "dressing" item I remember was louvres on the back window.
Interesting. I guess the contrast is supposed to be between the boring conventional people in the background, and the crazy and fun loving '70s people who, of course, are choosing the cool Mini?
Where the Mini fit in the Morris range of cars, circa 1962 (year based upon the license plates not yet having a designated letter suffix).
A Clubman 1275GT ad with some very 1970s colors.
A Mini ad from the late 1980s with an appeal to the fashion conscious.
But......that's actually a good looking Mini, tho I would prefer shiny bumpers rather than those grey ones.....check out the wheel gaps!
Yeah, big but "factory authentic" wheel gaps.
:grin:
And nice paint color too. Suits the car very well.
With the awful weather most of the country is having right now, this winter fun ad seems appropriate.
When I lived in Colorado I drove my Mini year round, it was great in the snow and fun to buzz around. It always started easily too......
In KC I drove my Dino in the snow too back in the day - people looked at me like I was crazy, but it was my only car at the time, and it did great with the mid mounted engine/gearbox.
I daily drove a mini for years too. Snow and all.
Interesting design. Thigh support? Yes indeedy. In spades. But they don't exactly look comfortable.
John & John.
A promo photo showing John Cooper and racer John Rhodes. A couple of huge names in Mini history.
Quote from: BruceK on December 27, 2022, 04:55:37 PMInteresting design. Thigh support? Yes indeedy. In spades. But they don't exactly look comfortable.
There were a set of these in the Cooper S I got from Iowa, the guy who sold me the car kept them. I didn't think the bolsters looked that big!
Kind of crazy to think that by the time these school kids grew up and had their own children, the Mini was still in production, and their grownup children could buy a brand new one.
It's the updated Hornet with Hydrolastic. And it has roll up windows many years before the regular Mini got those doors.
From a brochure at the launch of the revived 1990s Cooper model.
I guess those pop up sunroofs were really big then, didn't those go out of favor here in the 70's?
Sorry to admit I had one installed in a brand new '86 car I bought.
Very cool Bruce. Keep'm comin' !
:great: :great:
How to buy a Moke in Oz as a business expense.
Not sure if this is a BMC or James Bond "Goldfinger" promotional photo, but here is Oddjob lifting up a Mini.
As you might know, the Mini name was not always used in different markets. At one time the car was called the Austin Partner in Norway.
And in Denmark the Mascot name was used instead of Mini. Which led to the sporty version called the Mascot Cooper instead of the Mini Cooper. Awkward.
I probably posted these before but here they are again always fun to look at.
I have hundreds of ad's Ill add some from time to time.
Oz Mokes stacked for shipping. Pretty cool how the front and rear fenders provide a platform for the tires of the top Moke.
Mini hidden in the tall grass.
These days this would be seen as sexist, but 60 years ago this appeal to women buyers was for a "man's car" they would like.
I think this is an ad from Australia back when they still used pounds instead of dollars.
Mark, isn't this the color of your Oz Mini?
Possibly. It turns out there are a lot of colors similar to mine. I see pictures of them and ask and have yet to have someone say o yea mine is fiesta yellow too.
London black cab driver is jealous of the Mini's maneuverability in city traffic.
An aid for ventilation for Minis with sliding windows.
Okay, these aren't Mini advertisements per se, but you can be sure Austin/River/Innocenti were quite happy to have photos showing the CEOs of both Ferrari and Lamborghini using Minis as their own personal cars. Enzo Ferrari's Mini was a personal gift from Alec Issigonis. But it looks like Ferruccio Lamborghini purchased his own Mini.
River? Both cars appear to be Innocentis, going by the repeaters on the front fenders and the bonnet badges
The Ferrari owned one appears "custom" as can be told by the repositioned front turn signals and added driving lights that look molded into the front panel.
The Lamborghini owned one looks very likely to be an Innocenti - appears to be MK-III as well (roll up windows, internally hinged doors, apparent Inno bonnet badge).
Here's an article about the Ferrari Mini Cooper with an update on its present status. Not an Innocenti but a customized British Mini.
https://tcct.com/news/2021/01/did-ferrari-have-a-mini-no-two/
Selling luxury in a Mini package with comfy leather seating and a nice wooden dashboard.
That's an Autoplas dash cover, I only know that because there's a thread on it on TMF right now.
Quote from: MiniDave on March 01, 2023, 10:37:04 PMThat's an Autoplas dash cover, I only know that because there's a thread on it on TMF right now.
Wonder if it's a modern copy on an old Wood & Pickett design? Like the modern copies of W&P wheel arches?
Moke Californian model (never sold in California), joins the lengthy list of other car models that were never sold in their namesake locations.
Like the:
Corvair Monza
Oldsmobile Calais
Pontiac Parisian
Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Pontiac LeMans
Ford Torino
Ford Granada
Mercury Milan
Dodge Monaco
Chrysler Cordoba
Cadillac Seville
A promotional photo of Minis being exported. This was back when each car had to be individually lifted by crane onto and off the ship - before the invention of the "roll on, roll off" car transport ships now used.
Apparently at one point in the German market your Mini dealer stocked both Italian Innocenti Minis as well as British Minis at the same time. Quite a selection to choose from.
A promotional photo of a Mini model unique to South Africa - a Wolseley with the formal front nose of the Hornet but with the regular Mini's rounded "butt".
I really like the looks of this car.
The Mini WildGoose RV conversation. A big advantage to potential buyers was was it would fit into a normal garage.
Back in the 60's there was a special record company promotion in the Los Angeles area for The Beach Boys where they gave away some special zebra-striped Mini Mokes called "Mini Surfers" with special fringe tops that were designed by George Barris, the King of Kustomized Kars. I've heard there were as many as 20 of these Mokes given away. Wonder where they ended up?
What went in the compartment over the top of the cab? I've seen one of these at MMEMW in Winona, Wi.
Is that some sort of hood scoop on the bonnet of the Moke?
Does this make my butt look big?
German Mini Importer
Quote from: MiniDave on March 24, 2023, 08:48:30 AMGerman Mini Importer
Really selling the English heritage of all those different BL models. And it includes a map of the factory locations. Never mind that Germany tried bombing most of those locations during the war... :embarrassed:
An early BMC publicity photo of a Mini out in the English countryside. Looks to be Speedwell Blue!
A 1970s Mini ad showing a very '70s dark brown color.
Selling special edition Minis in the Netherlands in the late 1980s.
Racing Green, Flame, and Checkmate
Early 1960s Mini ad touting the novel - for the time - transverse placement of the engine to make the car more spacious.
The Clubman nose models are the big stars of the Mini world according to this ad, and they cost more. The round nose version is still available at 850 and 1000 cc's and they are definitely at the bottom of the Mini lineup at this point in time.
Early Innocenti brochure.
Selling the Clubman wagon. I owned a Mini in this bright Pagent Blue and it really stood out.
Hornet ad showing the internal hinge doors with roll up windows that would appear on regular Minis four years later.
Wash and wear.
Promotional photo of Mini coming off the assembly line painted like the Union flag.
I believe this was the first Mini ever painted like this and it was shipped off to Montreal for display at the Expo '67 World Fair (back when world fairs were a big thing).
Seems to be an ad for the later Portuguese-built Moke.
Newspaper ad from Australia in the 1960s. Only Morris-badged Minis were sold in Oz - never Austins for some reason. Note the reference to these being BMC cars first, then Morris models.
Suddenly
Quote from: BruceK on April 20, 2023, 05:53:26 PMSeems to be an ad for the later Portuguese-built Moke.
I have the urge to drive a MOKE on a beach in Portugal!
Some peeks into the exciting world of Broadspeed back in the 1960s.
Pretty darn impressive performance out of a modified Mini: 128mph. :13: And look at the prices!
The James Bond/Aston Martin DB5 influence of the mid-1960s definitely affected the rear styling!
A list of all (most?) special edition Minis from the final 2 decades of Mini production. I think these are the ones for the British home market and there were other special editions unique to Europe and Japan.
Does this make my nose look big?
Quote from: BruceK on May 07, 2023, 07:38:43 PMA list of all (most?) special edition Minis from the final 2 decades of Mini production. I think these are the ones for the British home market and there were other special editions unique to Europe and Japan.
That's pretty cool. I've never seen them all(?) listed like that.
My 1987 is an "Austin Mini City-E" - perhaps way too common to make the list?
Thanks for all your Mini ads. I look here often to see them Bruce.
cdn mini
A promotional photo from BMC showing John Cooper standing in front what is likely the launch of the first batch of Mini Cooper models in 1961.
Janspeed and their SOHC head upgrade for the Mini.
Have you scoured all the internet and run out of advertisements Bruce?
I wish they had a better pic of that Janspeed OHC setup, what the heck are those blocks on the carbs?
And a specially constructed block?
CANADIAN MINI - FUGLY BUMPERS AND ALL
Includes free snowplow? :grin:
Interesting angle to take on selling a Mini. "Luxurious" "relaxing seating"
Quote from: 94touring on July 12, 2023, 06:49:23 PMHave you scoured all the internet and run out of advertisements Bruce?
Nope! Just took a break. Back with more...
How's this? Upgrade from a Mini 850 to a Mini 1000 and get:
150cc more engine displacement!!!
AND...
Two extra gauges on the dash!!!
What a deal.
Or... get a Clubman and you get 2 extra doors!!!
:grin:
Not a Mini advertisement, but a (publicity?) photo showing how to rig up a temporary cooling solution on a rally Mini.
Quote from: BruceK on August 10, 2023, 08:48:20 AMNot a Mini advertisement, but a (publicity?) photo showing how to rig up a temporary cooling solution on a rally Mini.
That's one way to do it!
Step 1 remove light. Step 2 add radiator and some hoses. Step 3 finish the race.....Nice!
I never understood why people (who aren't driving their cars in a rallye) fill their entire grill with lights, seems like that would really restrict the cooling.
It also makes sense to me that if you're going to rallye, you need A), more cooling air thru the grille, not less and B) the lights should be up on the front edge of the bonnet or on the roof. I seriously doubt they'd be a disadvantage aerodynamically, given the brick like shape of the car.
Like this?
My sportpack came with factory rally lights. They worked very well at night I remember.
Quote from: BruceK on August 14, 2023, 04:37:49 PMLike this?
Rallying change the rules around additional lights. At some point in the 80s (would be my guess) the additional lights had to be in a removable pod to meet the body homologation rules. And there is rules about when they can be installed, I vaguely remember it is linked to the start time of the stage relative to sunrise/sunset times.
Here is a print of a Mini at the Monte Carlo rally in 1994 with the light pod installed.
A Mini ad introducing the Clubman as an entirely new range of Minis.
The ad points out that the regular shape Mini remains available and now has roll up windows. No mention of the hidden door hinges that also arrived on the new Mk III Minis!
FYI. The rally Mini shown just above is GRX 5D with Paddy Hopkirk (RIP) driving in Canada's 1968 Shell 4000 rally. It was disqualified because of the external rad installed to cure over heating. I refer to the website starchak.ca for a history of the Shell 4000 Rally. You'll find it in the index page close to the bottom just below Competition History. BTW the picture in Competition History tab is my former 67 Austin Cooper S.
I guess things happen pretty fast in a Mini Moke - so fast that the backseat passengers get all blurred out? :)
Anyway, this is a 1970s ad for an Oz Moke Californian.
Assuming this crazy "mod" painted Mini survived from the 1960s into the 1970s when it definitely became out of fashion then, what do you think happened to it? Did it get repainted or did it stand out like yesterday's news?
It would be really crazy if it was still around now in this paint scheme.
I can only imagine how long it took to paint that.
Me too, especially if the stripes are different colours!
Funny that the "California" Moke is right hand drive....
The "Californian" Moke was a trim package on the Australian Mokes, thus the RHD.
So the Californian Moke - never to be sold in California – it's somewhat like the Buick Riviera – never to be sold along the Riviera. :grin:
This one is for sale. Another hard paint job.