There really is a lot of misinformation in this thread.
Maybe it should start again.
Yes, there are significant differences between UK and OZ cars, but it is not true to say that Australia did not have Mk2 Minis.
The Mini K was officially, in engineering terms, the Mini De Luxe Mk2. The name Mini K was given to the car by the marketing people.
The Cooper S was Mk2 from 1969 to 1971. The Mini Clubman and Leyland Mini ranges were never referred to as Mk1, 2, 3, etc. In terms of the actual physical body, even the last of the Aussie-built Leyland Minis had basically the same body as the Morris 850, with a few changes, including but not limited to, the burst-proof doors, non-protruding door handles, larger taillight clusters, floorpan pressings and, of course, the square nose (aka Clubman front).
The push-button starter continued on the base or fleet model Minis through to the Mini 1100 of 1970. 1971 onwards had the key-start. The Mini De Luxe had key-start, as did the Cooper S, from 1965.
All Australian Minis had external door hinges, but the internal or concealed door hinges were introduced in the UK with the MkIII Riley Elf and Wolseley Hornet in October 1966, the Mini Clubman and 1275GT in 1969 and the ADO20 (Mk3 Mini) also in 1969 (a month later).
There were changes in interior trim and other appointments between the Oz Mk1 and Mk2, but the biggest selling point was the full-synchro gearbox (although there was a bit of a blurring over the change-over). Mini K had 1098cc engine, as did the Mk2 Mini Minor (the Mini 1100), while the Mini De Luxe had 998cc. The Mini Minor had 848cc engine, and later 998cc, but was always listed as Mk1 and stayed as YMA2S2.
The Mk2 Cooper S received a number of cosmetic changes. Note that the Mk1 Cooper S had the same interior trim as the Mini De Luxe, while the Mk2 Cooper S had the same trim as the Mini K. There were also a number of production changes that took place over time, and none are really specific to Mk1 or Mk2 - wipers changed in 1968, for example.
The question asked at the start of this thread was a legitimate one, as there are in fact differences between Mk1 and Mk2, and Australia did have Mk2.
Cheers,
Watto.
