This is an ad for the new Morris 850 (not yet called the Mini), from the SMH, August 1962.

They must have been very aware they were competing against the Volkswagen. 'It's £200 cheaper than You Know What.'

And at the bottom, see how it says 'Morris 850 - THE PEOPLE's CAR.'

Well....I'm sure that "You Know Who" will have plenty to say about that...........

Oh yeah!!, and how did they shape up against "YOU-KNOW- WHAT" at Bathurst [Armstrong 500] in 1963????

There it is !!

4 people in the back of a mini!!!!!

i think they were dreaming, a mechanical nightmare like the mini.

How many 62 minis do you see on the road. ? Theres your answer. My2c

Cruise all day at 50 Mph?

I would rather cruise all day at 62Mph. (on roads with 100Kph speed limit)

Put a 1320 into an 850 THEN see how it goes.......

They certainly chose their words carefully...."cruise"....
would have been more truthful as..."bruise" ...or......."struggle".
62mph/100kph was...."possible"... but you could feel the poor little think wearing out beneath you.
A mini 850 was in need of a rebuid after 50kmiles/80k.kms. A car designed to drive to the pub and
back in the UK didn't translate well to Australian normal usage. Used examples were bought and sold off
pretty quickly.
In 1963, a mate and I drove one from Sydney to Cairns and back, on our 3 weeks annual leave... we
needed the full 3 weeks. What a slow and uncomfortable trip...those little 10 inch wheels are a chiropractors dream.
The later Australian made Mokes were given 13 inch wheels.
The gear "stick" was very long and its main job was to threaten the passenger
...every acceleration/de-acceleration, every pot-hole it waved around furiously demanding more and more
personal space as the car wore out.....eventually being useless for changing gears.
I think that the Vw of the time, with its long overdrive top gear, could rightly claim to ..."cruise"...
With the Mini 850 the reality fell far short of the advertising hype.

There's no doubting that a mini is fun to drive, we had a 998cc cooper back in the UK and it was the best car around town, hitting roundabouts without slowing down, absolutely loved it. A nightmare to work on though and not for long drives Would definitely have another one should one become available.

At least the crankshaft was cheap, you could make a new one from a wire coat hanger.

Hmm, how many of todays cars owe their design to the mini, quite a few I'd say, and lets face it, were they ever meant to do really long trips, 50+ years on would you buy a Getz or simmilar if you were going to do lots of long trips, hardly think so.

At least the Getz is a reliable design, a lot people do long trips because they are capable design.

Let's say, that in 50 + years there would be only one Getz to see .... in the Hyundai museum...if...

I believe every word

As Greg said, the Cooper S was a totally different car, with a much larger and highly tuned engine, and a much higher price to match. In Volkswagen terms, they were like the Type 3 1600TS (but even faster) compared with the basic 1200 Beetle. I am not questioning the Cooper S, which has become legendary.

This post concerns the little Mini 850, which was pitched directly against the Volkswagen on the local market, undercutting it in price and even being referred to as 'the people's car.' Volkswagen Australia introduced the basic Standard Beetle in 1962 in a (failed) attempt to match the Morris 850. People preferred to pay more for a Deluxe Beetle.

The Volkswagen 1200 of Barry Ferguson/Bill Ford defeated the Morris 850 of Don Holland/Lindsay Little in the 1963 Armstrong 500 (the Under-£900 Class A). Other VWs finished 3rd, 4th and 5th (Greg was fifth).

Similar story in 1964 - three of the four Morris 850s retired with mechanical problems, and the surviving Morris 850 was beaten by three VWs. However that year Class A was Vauxhall Vivas in the first six places! Both the VW and Morris 850 were obsolete as production race cars by then. Morris moved on to the bigger, faster and more expensive Cooper, while VW no longer competed. There was only one more air-cooled VW at Bathurst after that, a solitary Type 3 1600S sedan in the $1801-$2100 Class B in 1969. It got flogged by the much faster Datsun 1600s and Ford Cortinas. And the Lennox Motors Golf that ran from 1976-80 is another story.

well the basic beetle had an engine 40% larger than the 1963 basic mini so you would hope there was some kind of advantage. But it wasnt a runaway race was it. Was there not a mini leading the class until the last corner when it went belly up? Did any other cars roll at Murrays corner that year Greg? A bit before my time I wasnt there but I have a ye olde VHS video of highlights.

What? i didn`t say anything :-)

edit-> ok youtube "Endaf Owens" :-)

Oh & my absolute favourit car of all time, eats nearly every other car it`s run against

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sD8rkuOjEe0 

well said Phil,,, great info too, thanks.

& yeah it was pretty funny watching the Beetle vs the mini, nearly 400 more ccs than the brick & yet pretty-well neck & neck the whole way,,, was a great advert for the mini i reckon

& yes the single leading 7" drum brakes on those early bricks were more like "Barely-retarders" than stoppers :-)

even the early 7" cooper discs were shocking, the later twin leading drums were better :-) & they were shocking too :-)