The Independent American Magazine for all Mini Owners
Issue link: http://mc2.epubxp.com/i/33537
At the end of the 1960s, the newly-formed British Leyland dabbled with the idea of producing a Mini-based Coupe, which would have had a 1275GT platform and running gear. This was stylist Paul Hughes’s original proposal. Looked at by the standards of the day – and, don’t forget, it was completed even before the new-generation MG Midget/ Sprite of 1961 was even launched – the style was neat and pleasing. Farina, at least, had provided it with wind-down glass in the doors, and with draught eliminating wing vents ahead of them, along with a neatly engineered fold-down soft-top. Even to this day, we do not know if this car would have inherited a larger and more powerful engine, but since the forthcoming 1962MY Midget/Sprite was due to be introduced with a 46bhp/948cc version of the A-Series power unit, it could surely not have been less than that. Even so, if it had gone on sale, would it have been a success? Without knowing what badging it would have carried, what engine tune, and of course what price it would have had, we cannot tell. ADO70 - A Serious Project For some years after ADO34 was abandoned, BMC then lost all interest in building Mini-based sports cars: they had enough on their minds because Austin-Healey and MG sales were booming - especially in the USA. After the foundation of British Leyland in 1968, however, any and all new project proposals were considered, everything seemed to be possible, and a two-seater car coded ADO70 began to take shape. [Incidentally, to emphasize the random nature of the allocation of ADO numbers, ADO69 was a London taxi-cab project that was cancelled, while ADO71 covered the range of medium/large front-wheel-drive 18- 54 MC2 Magazine www.mc2magazine.com 22 sedans, which were launched in 1975, and eventually were badged ‘Princess’]. In 1970, British Leyland’s exterior- styling studio was headed up by Harris Mann (later, of course, he would also take credit for the shaping of the TR7 sports car…), with Paul Hughes in place as his ‘Number Two.’ Since taking over in 1968, Leyland’s Lord Stokes had sidelined Alec Issigonis, and it was his direct replacement, Harry Webster (who had been moved in from Triumph), who inspired the birth of a new coupe. “I want a new fun car for the Americans, to replace the Midget,” Webster is reputedly have told his colleagues, “but you must base it on the Mini platform and running gear.” Of the many visual sketches then submitted for approval, it was a Paul Hughes rendering which got the nod, the result being that a complete 1275GT sedan was driven over to Turin, Italy, in May 1970 by Hughes’ associate Rob Owen, where the Michelotti Studio was shown the approved style, and asked to build a prototype ‘just like that one...’ At this stage, incidentally, there was a proposal that the production cars – if they eventually made it into the showrooms – be built in Italy by Innocenti of Milan, which was already building Minis under license. With Owen staying on, semi-permanently, in Turin for weeks, progress was swift. First of all, the existing car was reduced to a Hydrolastically-suspended ‘rolling chassis,’ then a wooden styling mock-up was erected alongside it, then Harry Webster visited Turin to inspect progress, and finally the one-and- only prototype was fabricated. The agreed style, which never changed after that one full-sized mock-up was approved, featured a rather blunt front-end, and a permanent two- seater coupe style, along with a removable hard-top roof panel (rather like the Triumph TR4/TR5 of the period – also a Webster/ Michelotti invention), together with a re- aligned steering column/wheel position. Finally, in October 1970, ADO70 was completed, and was driven back to the UK, and to Longbridge, by Rob Owen, who was rather delighted to return home to the Midlands after all that time. Since this car was hand-built, and rather heavy, it never quite looked, or delivered, what it originally promised. Although there was a group in Engineering who liked the car, many others in British Leyland management tried to ignore it, protesting that it was not in their product plan, that investment funds were not available to produce tooling, and that the American market would not accept it because it had front-wheel-drive. Very little technical or mechanical development was needed – for this car was based on an unmodified Mini 1275GT platform, engine/transmission, suspension and steering gear package, even down to the use of 1275GT road wheels – which was probably just as well as the project seemed to attract very little priority among the development staff at Longbridge. By late 1971, the Marketing Department (which had never asked for this car in the first place) had carried out yet another survey, the finance staff had cranked up the numbers, and between them had decided that they wanted to continue building the long-established MG Midget instead. The limited attention being given to the ADO 70 car finally evaporated, after which the sole prototype was stored outside in a secret corner of Longbridge, literally being left to rot. Nothing further came of the project, and by the 1980s this unique car was eventually handed over to the BMIHT, where it is often on display in the Museum at Gaydon. The front-end style of the original Abingdon-styled ADO 34, closely resembled what had already been ÀQDOL]HG IRU WKH VWLOO VHFUHW 0*%