hey someone told me the down fall of the mini sales in Australia was the Datsun 120y. It was the same price as a mini but with four doors and a boot,so people choose the 120y over the mini. does anyone know the real reason they stopped making minis in Australia so early compared to other country's.


Cheers TUCK3R

Leyland Australia went bang in 1974. It was just a fluke that they had the resources to keep going till 1978.
They had just released the P76 in time for the first oil crisis and the simultaneous recession. The Whitlam Government mucked around with tarrifs and import duties. The prices of locally made cars doubled in a couple of years but the tax on imported cars was reduced by about 25%.

So the Datsun and other Jap cars were seen as good value compared to the 998 Mini choked with pollution gear.

I suppose the real question is, why did they keep flogging a dead horse so long in England?
The Mini should have been replaced by the mid 70's. They had various plans for an improved (cheaper) Mini but Leyland just didn't have the cash to develop it.

well they stopped producting the Leyland mini(clubman at the same time everywhere and Rover brought the mini back in the austin/morris design. Guessing that rover just wanted to make the mini in the uk and not take over the old Leyland factory!?

that right????????

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New from the UK and wanting a NICE little British car!

so was the new car they could of produced been alot different to the mini?

Gareth,
No it's not right, the roundnose Mini in UK ran from 1959-2000 non-stop.
41 years on the same assembly line...
The Clubby in UK was produced for a while as well, and yes it was dropped about 1980 I think.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Leyland Australia became JRA and was completely unrelated to Rover- they realised there was more money in assembling Landies and Peugeots and importing Triumphs and Jags than there was in manufacturing Mokes and Minis.

No. It is not right in any way!

In England they did produce the round nose all the way through, even when they were making the Clubman they made the roundie as a poverty model.
Leyland and Rover were the same company. It was not a takeover or anything like that, it was just a rebranding excercise.
Rover was owned by Leyland from 1968.

Actually in England Minis were never "Leylands" they were "Minis" and they only got the Rover name right at the end of production after BMW has taken them over.

JRA came after the Mini died in Aus. It was still Leyland Australia when they pulled the pin on the Mini.

JRA happened in 1979 - just before

The Australian Mini finished in October 1978. (The Moke was made till 82)

Moke/Mini - splitting hairs

JRA was just a name change anyway (till the 1986 management buyout took control from the poms.)

If you want to read about it in detail, the mini experience ran a few articles over a few editions that covered the complete downfall of leyland Australia.

Watto has researched and written the articles very well. They are easy to understand and put great perspective on the era in terms of what other car companies were doing, how governments impacted upon the downfall, and how individuals helped contribute to the problem.

Ryan

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Ryan Filippi
Minis In The Gong
[email protected]
www.minisinthegong.com.au

cheers for the replys


TUCK3R

The main reason in Australia for the Minis demise was the evolving vehicle safety and crash protection regulations, later known as the ADR. This put an enormous amount of pressure on the cost of production, this coupled with the wage costs and the increased unionism at the the new production facility effectively strangled Leyland Australia. The motoring market had moved on,
Australia was in the middle of a suburban expansion, families wanted to identify with an "Aussie" car and Holden, Chrysler and Ford had the products, large four door sedans. The attempt at a market competitor the P76 was a disaster and took a substantial amount of time and resources to develop. By 1979 the British Leyland Company was a footnote in history and Leyland Australia followed soon after.

I,m not sure what happened to the last Mini off the production line, but it would be interesting if it was still around and in good condition, a great piece of history.

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