The Austin America was sold in the U.S. as a slightly awkward export of Britain’s small-car ingenuity, essentially a Mini stretched and softened for American tastes. It kept the transverse engine, front-wheel-drive layout, and compact footprint, but added just enough size and comfort to make it feel like a proper sedan rather than a bare-bones […]
The Austin America was internally known as project ADO16 and was the platform for a family of larger than the Mini vehicles including the Austin 1100/1300, MG 1100/1300 and Morris 1100/1300. The ADO16 front drive machine was one of the best selling vehicles in the UK, and it was exported in decent quantities. But the […]
In the early 1960s Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis was given a project from his bosses at BMC (British Motor Corp) with the internal and thoroughly unsexy name ADO16. This project would be the basis for a family of larger than the Mini vehicles including the Austin 1100/1300, MG 1100/1300 and Morris 1100/1300. Combined production […]