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By January 1973 ADRs meant the "poverty pack" Mini 1100 was so similar to the Clubman model that they were virtually one model. By this time all Minis had head restraints, steering lock ignition switches, km/h speedos, self-park windscreen wipers and electric windscreen washers. Heaters and windscreen demisters had already been mandatory from January 1971, as had rear seatbelts. The central speedo of the Mini 1100 and Mini Van no longer met ADRs from January 1973.
The Clubman GT was discontinued in January 1973 (see Issue 25), as was the Mini 1100, leaving only a single model available, the Mini Clubman. Leyland Australia felt there was still a market for an up-market version, and wanted the Mini to have at least two models in the range.
The result in March 1973 was the Super Mini (seriously, that's what it was called within the factory and in some advertising), which was designated with a big red S on the grille and the bootlid. The Mini Clubman S (see Issue 12) included carpet, a three-dial dash, radio, wheel arch flares, Rostyle wheels, bumper under-riders and a black-out grille.
Within a month of the release of the Mini Clubman S, hydrolastic suspension was discontinued and the Clubman name was dropped, making the two models available the Leyland Mini and Leyland Mini S. Both still had the remote gearchange, while the Mini Van still included the pudding-stirer gearstick.
The rod-change gearbox had been introduced in the UK in December 1972, and was introduced to Australian Minis around the middle of 1973 - probably May or June. From this point on, all Minis, including the Van, had the rod-change gearbox.
It was also around this time that the base model Leyland Mini received carpet as standard fitting and the Van received carpet for the front foot well.
So, the base model Leyland Mini was no longer a "poverty pack" but was simply the standard model in the range and included two-dial dash, carpets, heater/demister, steering lock ignition, rear seatbelts, etc etc. The Mini S was the up-market version and included the three-dial dash, wheel arch flares, Rostyle wheels, etc.
From then on, improvements due to ADR requirements or market-driven were always across the board and included better "tombstone style" seats, handbrake warning light, reversing lights, etc, so these were found on the standard model as well as the Mini S.
Now, back when the Clubman Minis were being designed at Waterloo, the engineering designations given to the three models were YDO21 - Mini 1100; YDO22 - Mini Clubman De Luxe and YDO23 - Mini Clubman GT.
However, the model designations for sales, and consequently that shown on the Compliance plates, were YG2S6, YG2S7 and YG2S8 respectively.
The numbering system for all Leyland Australia vehicles changed in January 1973 (Issue 19) and the model designations became the Engineering designations - 021 and 022 respectively (YDO23 Clubman GT) having been discontinued.
Now, I have always believed that the number after the 2S on the compliance p[late referred not to the trim level, but to the model sequence, similar to what had been used previously on BMC ID plates. For example YKA2S1 was the first model Cooper, while YKG2S2 was the second model Cooper - the G designating the 1275cc engine of the Cooper S.
With the early compliance plates the numbers YG2S6, YG2S7 and YG2S8 referred to the model sequence - YG2S4 having been the Mk2 Cooper S, and YG2S5 (and YG2S3) having not been used - although no-one has been able to explain to me why they were not used.
With the change in model designation to 021 and 022, the Leyland Minis were the second models in the sequence, hence both the standard model (021) and the Mini S being designated 2S2 on the compliance plates.
The Mini S was 2S3, not because it was a higher trim level than the Mini S (the trim level was the same but there were more add-on extras). This is supported by the Mini LS being 2S4, even though it was exactly the same trim level as the Mini SS and had almost exactly the same list of accessories.
I'm afraid I can't shed any more light on the Compliance Status Code than already given.
The model specification was again changed, and chassis numbers again effectively reverted to 0, in April 1978 (see Issue 16) so that all vehicles across Leyland globally used the same production code designations.
So, in short, the Mini in question from the start of this thread is a standard model Leyland Mini, but not a "poverty pack", which had been discontinued in early 1973.
Cheers,
Watto.
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but they got it right on the rad shroud. 