Wednesday, February 4, 2009

77.mini cars

Morris Mini Traveller and Austin Mini Countryman (1961–69, UKonly): Two-door estate cars with double "barn"-style rear doors. Both were built on a slightly longer chassis of 84 inches (2.14 m) compared to 80.25 inches (2.04 m) for the saloon.

The luxury models had decorative, non-structural wood inserts in the rear body which gave the car a similar appearance to the larger Morris Minor estate which had some of the look of an American-style 1950s Woodie. Approximately 108,000 Austin Mini Countrymen and 99,000 Morris Mini Travellers were built.

Mini Van (1960-82): A commercial panel van rated at ¼-ton load capacity. Built on the longer Traveller chassis but without side windows, it proved popular in 1960s Britain as a cheaper alternative to the car as it was classed as a commercial vehicle and carried no sales tax. A set of simple stamped steel slots served in place of a more costly chrome grille. The Mini Van was renamed as the Mini 95 in 1978, the number representing the gross vehicle weight of 0.95 tons. 521,494 were built.

Mini Moke (1964 and 1968 in the UK, 1966-82 in Australia and 1983-89 in Portugal): A utility vehicle designed for the British Army, for whom 600 twin-engined 4-wheel-drive versions were purpose-built. Although the 4WD Moke could climb a 2-in-1 gradient, it proved to have insufficient ground clearance for military use. The single-engined front-wheel-drive Moke enjoyed some popularity in civilian production. About 50,000 were made. The car featured in the cult 1967 TV series The Prisoner, and is popular in holiday locations such as Barbados and Macau, where Mokes were used as police cars. Mokes were also available to rent there as recently as March 2006. "Moke" is archaic British slang for a donkey.

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