If you are referring to the change from the (classic - I don't like that term) mini to MINI (as in BMW), the answer is not really a simple one.

I can only suggest you get a copy of Mini - the true and secret history of the making of a modern motor car (I think watto flogs them). The latter part of the book deals in depth with that.

I think it is a good read, but with all these books, they also make me sad.

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I disagree that Rover and its predecessors did not know about the cult status of the Mini before BMW took over.

The first of the "specials" appeared in the 1980's that sought to take advantage of the cult significance -ie the 25th anniversary special. This was a long time before the BMW takeover, and was followed up with the 30th anniversary, and then the re-emergence of the Cooper in the early 90's. These things might cynically be seen as only a marketing exercise, but to appeal to a market, you have to be aware of it. Following up with things like the ERA turbo, the JKD hotrod etc were all prior to BMW ownership. The only thing that BMW did know better was that this had become more about selling a brand whereas Rover still thought that they were selling cars.

Economic influences ....

In the late 60's and early 70's (ie 1968-71ish) the biggest selling car in the UK was the Morris/Austin 1100, as far as I am aware. This meant that a lot of the smaller common components had huge volumes to make their price cheaper when used in the Mini compared to later times when they were only used in the Mini. In Australia this helped for the 7 year period when the 1100 engine was accross the entire Mini range, even though the engines were assembled here, as a number of components would have been commonly sourced from the UK.

As a result of the UK parent company bleeding and the impact of the oil crisis on the Australian company gamble on the P76, the Australian production of Minis moved from Zetland to Enfield. This meant that the 1100cc engine was dropped and the UK 1000cc engine adopted across the range. Direct design change as a result of economic circumstances.

In the 1960's and 70's there was probably more of a tendancy of people to buy from the manufacturer of their own nationality, with significant influence of various trade tarriffs and other kinds of protectionism. As tarriffs were reduced and imported competition became more widely available, this kind of enforced patriotism gradually reduced. Therefore the kind of cars that the Mini was competing against changed significantly.

The introduction of the small Japanese cars, the development of the small hatchback by VW (Golf and Polo) were the main competition in the 70' that forced the Mini from being a mainstream small car that everybody would buy as a means of transport into a cult car that was only bought by enthusiasts or fashion conscious people in the 1980' and 1990's. However there was clearly enough money to be made from selling a lower volume cult car to keep it going.

Social influences ....

The single most important factor in the changing design or otherwise (ie lack of change) due to a social issue was the battles between the unions and management in the 1970s in the UK. You can choose whichever side you think was the good guys or bad guys in these disputes, but ultimately the whole situation meant that the redesign or replacement of the Mini to keep up with the competition never happened. Note that these disputes never really happened in the same way in Australia, largely because at the time in the UK there were still very deep class divisions and there were a lot of people who saw the disputes as class warfare. Australia had (and still has) a much larger and very stable middle class that tends to minimise that type of militancy.

The environmental regulations that forced Leyland to put air pumps on to the Mini engine were a direct result of the social policies of the various governments that enforced the regulations. This continued to the introduction of fuel injection and catalytic converters. Safety regulations can also be seen as part of the social policies of governments, which resulted in side intrusion bars, burst proof locks, pedestrian safe door handles, seat belts, and eventually air bags.

just a couple of ideas, might have a few more later.

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Yes they did do specials, but then every other car maker does do those with nearly every model. Some of these were intended to be a run out (as in end of mini production), but the wheels kept turning.

'Special' model mini's were being done by the factory since not long after its started production. If you recall, Harriman (BMC Managing Director) thought that that would never sell 1000 Copper Models....This was originally a 'special', but then went on to be a model in it's own right.

Rover did have some understanding that marketing a 'special' would get it to sell, but they did not have any idea of the mini's cult statis.

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