The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during six, from the last year of the 1950s into the last year of the 20th century, over a single generation, as fastbacks, estates, and convertibles.
Morris Motors Limited was a British privately owned motor vehicle manufacturing company formed in 1919 to take over the assets of William Morris's WRM Motors Limited and continue production of the same vehicles. By 1926 its production represented 42 per cent of British car manufacture—a remarkable expansion rate attributed to William Morris's practice of buying in major as well as minor components and assembling them in his own factory. Self-financing through his enormous profits Morris did borrow some money from the public in 1926 and later shared some of Morris Motors' ownership with the public in 1936 when the new capital was used by Morris Motors to buy many of his other privately held businesses.
Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis was a British-Greek automotive designer. He designed the Mini, launched by the British Motor Corporation in 1959, and voted the second most influential car of the 20th century in 1999.
The British Motor Corporation Limited (BMC) was a UK-based vehicle manufacturer, formed in early 1952 to give effect to an agreed merger of the Morris and Austin businesses.
The Morris Marina is a front-engined, rear-wheel-drive small family car that was manufactured by the Austin-Morris division of British Leyland from 1971 until 1980. It served to replace the Morris Minor in the Morris product line, which had first been built in 1948. The Marina was also sold in some markets as the Austin Marina, the Leyland Marina and the Morris 1700.
The Austin Motor Company Limited was an English manufacturer of motor vehicles, founded in 1905 by Herbert Austin in Longbridge. In 1952 it was merged with Morris Motors Limited in the new holding company British Motor Corporation (BMC) Limited, keeping its separate identity. The marque Austin was used until 1987. The trademark is currently owned by the Chinese firm SAIC Motor, after being transferred from bankrupt subsidiary Nanjing Automotive which had acquired it with MG Rover Group in July 2005.
British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partly nationalised in 1975, when the UK government created a holding company called British Leyland, later renamed BL in 1978. It incorporated much of the British-owned motor vehicle industry, which in 1968 had a 40 percent share of the UK car market, with its history going back to 1895.
Riley was a British motorcar and bicycle manufacturer from 1890. Riley became part of the Nuffield Organization in 1938 and was merged into the British Leyland Motor Corporation in 1968. In July 1969 British Leyland announced the immediate end of Riley production, although 1969 was a difficult year for the UK automotive industry and many cars from Riley's inventory may have been first registered in 1970.
The Morris Minor is a British economy family car that made its debut at the Earls Court Motor Show, London, in October 1948. Designed under the leadership of Alec Issigonis, more than 1.6 million were manufactured between 1948 and 1972 in three series: the Series MM, the Series II, and the 1000 series.
Nuffield Organization was the unincorporated umbrella-name or promotional name used for the charitable and commercial interests of owner and donor, William Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield. The name was assumed following Nuffield's gift made to form his Nuffield Foundation in 1943, it linked his business interests to his existing very generous philanthropy. The same enterprises had previously been referred to as the Morris Organizations and at first described itself as The Nuffield Organization, A Cornerstone of Britain's Industrial Structure.
Wolseley Motors Limited was a British motor vehicle manufacturer founded in early 1901 by the Vickers Armaments in conjunction with Herbert Austin. It initially made a full range, topped by large luxury cars, and dominated the market in the Edwardian era. The Vickers brothers died and, without their guidance, Wolseley expanded rapidly after the war, manufacturing 12,000 cars in 1921, and remained the biggest motor manufacturer in Britain.
The Daimler Scout Car, known in service as the Daimler Dingo, is a British light, fast four-wheel drive reconnaissance vehicle also used for liaison during the Second World War.
The Austin Gipsy is an off-road vehicle produced by Austin from 1958 to 1968. It was designed as a lower-cost replacement for the Austin Champ, to compete directly with Rover's Land Rover. Like the Land Rover, it was aimed at both the civilian and military markets.
The Austin Champ was a military and civilian jeep-like vehicle made by the Austin Motor Company in the 1950s. The army version was officially known as "Truck, 1/4 ton, CT, 4×4, Cargo & FFW, Austin Mk.1" however the civilian name "Champ" was universally, if unofficially, applied to it. The majority of Champs produced went to the British Army.
The Morris Eight is a small family car produced by Morris Motors from 1935 to 1948. It was inspired by the sales popularity of the Ford Model Y, styling of which the Eight closely followed. The success of the car enabled Morris to regain its position as Britain's largest motor manufacturer.
The British Motor Museum in Warwickshire, England holds the world's largest collection of historic British cars, with over 300 cars on display from the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust and the Jaguar Heritage Trust.
The Morris Six Series MS is a six-cylinder midsize car from Morris Motors Limited which was produced from 1948 to 1953. Announced with Morris Motors' Minor, Oxford and Wolseley ranges on Tuesday 26 October 1948, it was Morris's first post-war six-cylinder car. All the new cars were of integral construction of chassis and body and rode on independent front suspension with torsion bars. At launch, the car was priced at £607 on the UK market, though the price rose to £671 on 1 March 1949.
The Nuffield Oxford Taxi, initially produced as the Wolseley Oxford Taxicab was the first new taxicab designed to comply with the Metropolitan Police Conditions of Fitness for London taxicabs to be launched on the British market after the end of the Second World War.
The Nuffield Guppy was a small military vehicle designed by Sir Alec Issigonis while he worked for the Nuffield Organization in the early 1940s. The vehicle was designed to be parachute-droppable and was intended to assist paratroops to transport loads up to 500 lb (227 kg) at walking speeds and to be amphibious. The vehicle resembled the DUKW but was only about 8 feet (2.4 m) long. It had large balloon tyres and an outboard motor at the rear. It was capable of carrying one person with equipment, or being used as a motorised wheelbarrow by someone walking alongside the vehicle.
British Motor Corporation (Australia) was a motor manufacturing company formed in Australia in 1954 by the merger of the Austin Motor Company (Australia) and Nuffield (Australia). This followed the merger in 1952 of the Austin Motor Company and the Nuffield Group in the United Kingdom to form the British Motor Corporation. Following further corporate changes in the UK in the late 1960s, BMC Australia was absorbed into the newly established British Leyland Motor Corporation of Australia, the name of which became Leyland Motor Corporation of Australia in 1972, and then JRA Limited in March 1983.
