BMC ADO16
Encyclopedia
ADO16 is the codename for the development of what became the Morris 1100, a small family car built by the British Motor Corporation
British Motor Corporation
The British Motor Corporation, or commonly known as BMC was a vehicle manufacturer from United Kingdom, formed by the merger of the Austin Motor Company and the Nuffield Organisation in 1952...

 (BMC) and, later, British Leyland. Throughout the 1960s, the ADO16 was consistently the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

's best-selling car.

Although most of the cars were manufactured in England, the model was also built in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 by Authi
Authi
The Authi car company of Pamplona, Spain, was founded in 1965 as a result of a collaboration between BMC and NMQ ....

, in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 by Innocenti
Innocenti
Innocenti was an Italian machinery works originally established by Ferdinando Innocenti in 1920.After World War II, the company was famous for many years for Lambretta scooters models such as LI125, LI150, TV175, TV200, SX125, SX150, SX200, GP125, GP150 and GP200.From 1961 to 1976 Innocenti built...

 and at the company's own plant in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

. It was the basis for locally adapted similar cars manufactured in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

.

The vehicle was launched as the Morris 1100 on August 15, 1962. The range was expanded to include several rebadged versions, including the twin-carburettor MG 1100, the Vanden Plas Princess (from October 1962), the Austin 1100 (August 1963), and finally the Wolseley 1100 (1965) and Riley Kestrel (1965). The Morris badged 1100/1300 gave up its showroom space to the Morris Marina
Morris Marina
The Morris Marina is a car which was manufactured by the Morris division of British Leyland in the UK throughout the 1970s, which was a period of great turbulence and difficulty for the British car industry. It was known in some markets as the Austin Marina, Leyland Marina, and Morris 1.7...

 in 1971, but Austin and Vanden Plas versions remained in production in the UK till June 1974.

The estate version followed in 1966, called Countryman in the Austin version and Traveller in the Morris one, continuing the established naming scheme. The Austin 1100 Countryman appeared in the legendary "Gourmet Night
Gourmet Night
"Gourmet Night" is the fifth episode in the first series of the BBC TV sitcom Fawlty Towers.-Cast:Episode credited cast:*John Cleese as Basil Fawlty*Prunella Scales as Sybil Fawlty*Andrew Sachs as Manuel*Connie Booth as Polly Sherman...

" episode of Fawlty Towers
Fawlty Towers
Fawlty Towers is a British sitcom produced by BBC Television and first broadcast on BBC2 in 1975. Twelve television program episodes were produced . The show was written by John Cleese and his then wife Connie Booth, both of whom played major characters...

, in which short tempered owner of Fawlty Towers Basil Fawlty
Basil Fawlty
Basil Fawlty is the main character of the British sitcom Fawlty Towers, played by John Cleese. The character is often thought of as an iconic British comedy character, and has been deemed unforgettable despite only a dozen half-hour episodes ever being made....

 (John Cleese
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...

) gave it a "damn good thrashing". This episode was first shown in October 1975.

In 1964 the 1100 was Wheels
Wheels magazine
Wheels is an Australian automotive magazine published monthly by ACP Magazines. The publication is well-renowned by Australian car enthusiasts...

 magazine's Car of the Year
Car of the Year
Car of the Year is a phrase usually considered to have been invented by Motor Trend magazine in the 1950s for their annual award for best American automobile...

.

Design and development

The ADO16 (Austin
Austin Motor Company
The Austin Motor Company was a British manufacturer of automobiles. The company was founded in 1905 and merged in 1952 into the British Motor Corporation Ltd. The marque Austin was used until 1987...

 Drawing Office project number 16) was designed by Sir Alec Issigonis
Alec Issigonis
Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis, CBE, FRS was a Greek-British designer of cars, now remembered chiefly for the groundbreaking and influential development of the Mini, launched by the British Motor Corporation in 1959.- Early life:Issigonis was born into the Greek community of Smyrna ...

. Following his success with the Mini
Mini
The Mini is a small car that was made by the British Motor Corporation and its successors from 1959 until 2000. The original is considered a British icon of the 1960s, and its space-saving front-wheel-drive layout influenced a generation of car-makers...

, Issigonis set out to design a larger and more sophisticated car which incorporated even more advanced features and innovations. In common with the Mini, the ADO16 was designed around the BMC A-Series engine
BMC A-Series engine
Austin Motor Company's small straight-4 automobile engine, the A-Series, is one of the most common in the world. Launched in 1951 with the Austin A30, production lasted until 2000 in the Mini. It used a cast-iron block and cylinder head, and a steel crankshaft with 3 main bearings...

, mounted transversely and driving the front wheels
Front-wheel drive
Front-wheel drive is a form of engine/transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longitudinal engine arrangement generally found in rear-wheel drive and...

. As well as single piston swinging caliper disc brake
Disc brake
The disc brake or disk brake is a device for slowing or stopping the rotation of a wheel while it is in motion.A brake disc is usually made of cast iron, but may in some cases be made of composites such as reinforced carbon–carbon or ceramic matrix composites. This is connected to the wheel and/or...

s at the front, which were not common on mass produced cars in the early 1960s, the suspension system used was the Hydrolastic
Hydrolastic
Hydrolastic is a type of space-efficient automotive suspension system used in many cars produced by British Motor Corporation and its successor companies....

 interconnected fluid system designed by Alex Moulton
Alex Moulton
Dr. Alexander Eric Moulton CBE is an English engineer and inventor, specialising in suspension design.Moulton is the great-grandson of the rubber pioneer Stephen Moulton, the founder of the family business George Spencer Moulton & Co...

. The mechanically interconnected Citroen 2CV
Citroën 2CV
The Citroën 2CV |tax horsepower]]”) was an economy car produced by the French automaker Citroën between 1948 and 1990. It was technologically advanced and innovative, but with uncompromisingly utilitarian unconventional looks, and deceptively simple Bauhaus inspired bodywork, that belied the sheer...

 suspension was assessed in the mid-1950s by Alec Issigonis and Alex Moulton (according to an interview by Moulton with CAR magazine in the late 1990s), and was an inspiration in the design of the Hydrolastic suspension system for the Mini and Austin 1100, to try to keep the benefits of the 2CV system (ride comfort, body levelling, keeping the roadwheel under good control and the tyre in contact with the road), but with added roll stiffness that the 2CV was very much lacking. Pininfarina
Pininfarina
Pininfarina S.p.A. is an Italian car design firm and coachbuilder in Cambiano, Italy.Founded as Società anonima Carrozzeria Pinin Farina in 1930 by automobile designer and builder Battista "Pinin" Farina, Pininfarina has been employed by a wide variety of high-end automobile manufacturers,...

, the Italian styling studio which had worked with BMC before on the Austin A40 Farina
Austin A40 Farina
The Austin A40 Farina was a compact car introduced by the British Motor Corporation in 1958, replacing the earlier A40 Devon.It combines many of the virtues of a saloon and estate car in one body. There is more headroom for the rear passengers because of the angular instead of curved lines of the...

, were asked to do the styling. It was a masterpiece of packaging having comparable interior space to the much larger Ford Cortina
Ford Cortina
As the 1960s dawned, BMC were revelling in the success of their new Mini – the first successful true minicar to be built in Britain in the postwar era...

.

Mark I (1962–1967)

The original Mark I models were distinctive for their use of a Hydrolastic
Hydrolastic
Hydrolastic is a type of space-efficient automotive suspension system used in many cars produced by British Motor Corporation and its successor companies....

 suspension. Marketing material highlighted the spacious cabin when compared to competitor models which in the UK by 1964 included the more conservatively configured Ford Anglia
Ford Anglia
The 1949 model, code E494A, was a makeover of the previous model with a rather more 1940s style front-end, including the sloped, twin-lobed radiator grille. Again it was a very spartan vehicle and in 1948 was Britain's lowest priced four wheel car....

, Vauxhall Viva
Vauxhall Viva
The Viva was a small family car produced by Vauxhall Motors in a succession of three versions between 1963 and 1979. These were known as the HA, the HB and the HC series....

 HA and BMC's own still popular Morris Minor
Morris Minor
The Morris Minor was a British economy car that debuted at the Earls Court Motor Show, London, on 20 September 1948. Designed under the leadership of Alec Issigonis, more than 1.3 million were manufactured between 1948 and 1971...

.

The Mark I Austin / Morris 1100 was available, initially, only as a four door saloon. In March 1966 a three door station wagon became available, badged as the Morris 1100 Traveller or the Austin 1100 Countryman. Domestic market customers looking for a two door saloon would have to await the arrival in 1967 of the Mark II version, although the two door 1100 saloon had by now been introduced to certain oversea markets, including the USA where a 2-door MG 1100 was offered.

An Automotive Products (AP) four speed automatic transmission was added as an option in November 1965. In order to avoid the serious levels of power loss then typical in small engined cars with automatic transmission the manufacturers incorporated a new carburettor and a higher compression ratio in the new 1965 automatic transmission cars: indeed a press report of the time found very little power loss in the automatic 1100, though the same report expressed the suspicion that this might in part reflect the unusually high level of power loss resulting from the way in which the installation of the transversely mounted "normal" manual gear box had been engineered.

Mark II (1967–1971)

At the end of May 1967, BMC announced the fitting of a larger 1275 cc engine to the MG
MG (car)
The MG Car Company is a former British sports car manufacturer founded in the 1920s by Cecil Kimber. Best known for its two-seat open sports cars, MG also produced saloons and coupés....

, Riley Kestrel
Riley (automobile)
Riley was a British motorcar and bicycle manufacturer from 1890. The company became part of the Nuffield Organisation in 1938 and was later merged into British Leyland: late in 1969 British Leyland announced their discontinuance of Riley production, although 1969 was a difficult year for the UK...

, Vanden Plas
Vanden Plas
Vanden Plas is the name of a company of coachbuilders who produced bodies for specialist and up-market automobile manufacturers. Latterly the name became a top-end luxury model designation for cars from various subsidiaries of British Leyland and the Rover Group.-Belgium:It originated in Belgium in...

 and Wolseley
Wolseley Motor Company
The Wolseley Motor Company was a British automobile manufacturer founded in 1901. After 1935 it was incorporated into larger companies but the Wolseley name remained as an upmarket marque until 1975.-History:...

 variants. The new car combined the 1275 cc engine block already familiar to drivers of newer Mini Cooper
Mini
The Mini is a small car that was made by the British Motor Corporation and its successors from 1959 until 2000. The original is considered a British icon of the 1960s, and its space-saving front-wheel-drive layout influenced a generation of car-makers...

 and Austin-Healey Sprite
Austin-Healey Sprite
The Austin-Healey Sprite is a small open sports car which was announced to the press in Monte Carlo by the British Motor Corporation on 20 May 1958, just before that year's Monaco Grand Prix. It was intended to be a low-cost model that "a chap could keep in his bike shed", yet be the successor to...

 models with the 1100 transmission, its gear ratios remaining unchanged for the larger engine, but the final-drive being significantly more highly geared.

The Mark II versions of the Austin and Morris models were announced, with the larger engine making it into these two makes' UK market ranges in October 1967 (as the Austin 1300 and Morris 1300). An 1100 version of the Mark II continued alongside the larger engined models.

Unusually for cars at this end of the market, domestic market waiting lists of several months accumulated for the 1300 engined cars during the closing months of 1967 and well into 1968. The manufacturers explained that following the devaluation of the British Pound in the Fall / Autumn of 1967 they were working flat out to satisfy export market demand, but impatient British would-be customers could be reassured that export sales of the 1300s were "going very well". MG, Wolseley, Riley and Vanden Plas variants with the 1300 engines were already available on the home market in very limited quantities, and Austin and Morris versions would begin to be "available here in small quantities in March [1968].

On the outside, a slightly wider front grille, extending a little beneath the headlights, and with a fussier detailing, differentiated Austin / Morris Mark IIs from their Mark I predecessors, along with a slightly smoother tail light fitting which also found its way onto the FX4 London taxi of the time. Austin and Morris grilles were now identical. The 1100 had been introduced with synchromesh on the top three ratios: all synchromesh manual gearboxes were introduced with the 1275 cc models at the end of 1967 and found their way into 1098 cc cars a few months later.

Mark II versions of the MG, Riley, Vanden Plas and Wolseley were introduced in October 1968, at which time Riley abandoned the Kestrel name. The Riley 1300 Mark II was cancelled in July 1969, and was the last Riley.

At the London Motor Show in October 1969 the manufacturers introduced the Austin / Morris 1300 GT, featuring the same 1275 cc twin carburetter engine as that installed in the MG 1300, but with a black full width grill, a black vinyl roof and a thick black stripe down the side. This was BMC's answer to the Ford Escort GT and its Vauxhall counterpart
Vauxhall Viva
The Viva was a small family car produced by Vauxhall Motors in a succession of three versions between 1963 and 1979. These were known as the HA, the HB and the HC series....

. Ride height on the Austin / Morris 1300 GT was fractionally lowered through the reduction of the Hydrolastic fluid pressure from 225 to 205 psi.

Engine

  • 1967–1971: 1098 cc A-Series I4
    Straight-4
    The inline-four engine or straight-four engine is an internal combustion engine with all four cylinders mounted in a straight line, or plane along the crankcase. The single bank of cylinders may be oriented in either a vertical or an inclined plane with all the pistons driving a common crankshaft....

  • 1967–1971: 1275 cc A-Series I4
    Straight-4
    The inline-four engine or straight-four engine is an internal combustion engine with all four cylinders mounted in a straight line, or plane along the crankcase. The single bank of cylinders may be oriented in either a vertical or an inclined plane with all the pistons driving a common crankshaft....



During 1970, despite being fundamentally little changed since the introduction of the Morris 1100 in 1962, the Austin/Morris 1100/1300 retained its position as Britain's top selling car, with 132,965 vehicles registered as against 123,025 for the Ford Cortina
Ford Cortina
As the 1960s dawned, BMC were revelling in the success of their new Mini – the first successful true minicar to be built in Britain in the postwar era...

, in that year entering its third incarnation. By the time the two millionth ADO16 was produced, at the end of June 1971, the Morris badged version of the car had been withdrawn in order to create space in the range and in the showrooms for the Morris Marina
Morris Marina
The Morris Marina is a car which was manufactured by the Morris division of British Leyland in the UK throughout the 1970s, which was a period of great turbulence and difficulty for the British car industry. It was known in some markets as the Austin Marina, Leyland Marina, and Morris 1.7...

. 1970 turned out to be the 1100/1300's last year at the top of the UK charts.

Mark III (1971–1974)

The Mark III models were introduced in September 1971. At the launch of the Morris 1100 in 1962 the manufacturer stated that they intended for the ADO16 models to remain in production for at least ten years, which despite BMC's vicissitudes through the 1960s turned out to be reasonably prescient. The range was gradually reduced, with the MG 1300 dropped in 1971 and the Wolseley 1300 in 1973. The final British ADO16, a Vanden Plas Princess 1300, left the factory on 19 June 1974. The ADO16 was replaced by the Austin Allegro
Austin Allegro
The Austin Allegro is a small family car manufactured by British Leyland under the Austin name from 1973 until 1983. The same vehicle was built in Italy by Innocenti between 1974 and 1975 and sold as the Innocenti Regent...

 and its Vanden Plas 1500 counterpart. By this time, its original rival, the Ford Cortina
Ford Cortina
As the 1960s dawned, BMC were revelling in the success of their new Mini – the first successful true minicar to be built in Britain in the postwar era...

, had already grown larger, putting ADO16 into the small, rather than medium-sized class.

ADO16 production overlapped for more than a year with the Allegro.

Engine

  • 1971–1974: 1098 cc A-Series I4
  • 1971–1974: 1275 cc A-Series I4
    Straight-4
    The inline-four engine or straight-four engine is an internal combustion engine with all four cylinders mounted in a straight line, or plane along the crankcase. The single bank of cylinders may be oriented in either a vertical or an inclined plane with all the pistons driving a common crankshaft....


ADO16 timeline

  • March 1962: The first Morris 1100 and MG 1100 cars were produced at Cowley
    Cowley, Oxford
    Cowley in Oxford, England, is a residential and industrial area that forms a small conurbation within greater Oxford. Cowley's neighbours are central Oxford to the northwest, Rose Hill and Blackbird Leys to the south, New Headington to the north and the villages of Horspath and Garsington across...

    .
  • 15 August 1962: Launch of the Morris 1100 four-door saloon in Britain. Two-door saloon for export only.
  • August 1962: The Morris 1100 was exported to Denmark where it went on sale as the Morris Marina. It was initially a slow seller due to a new tax regime that had been introduced in Denmark.
  • 2 October 1962: Launch of the MG 1100 four-door saloon in Britain. Like the Morris 1100, the two-door saloon was reserved for export only. The MG 1100 had a more powerful 55 bhp twin carburettor version of the A Series engine and a more luxurious interior.
  • November 1962: Both models now have rear mud flaps.
  • January 1963: Danish sales for the Morris Marina begin to improve.
  • April 1963: Introduction of the Innocenti IM3. This was an ADO16 assembled on the northern side of Milan
    Milan
    Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

    , with different front end styling, petrol flap, different bumpers and higher quality interior trim. "IM" was short for "Innocenti-Morris", though the alternative initials "JM" were often used, reflecting those writing styles in which a long 'i' and 'j' can become indistinguishable. The '3' resulted from this being the third BMC model adapted and assembled in Italy by Innocenti.
  • September 1963: Introduction of the Austin 1100, similar to the Morris 1100 but with the traditional 8 wavy bar grille with Austin coat of arms on the bonnet and different interior trim and dashboard.
  • October 1963: Introduction of the Vanden Plas 1100. It was the top of the range model with walnut-veneer dashboard, door cappings, picnic tables in the back of the front seats, Connolly Leather
    Connolly Leather
    Connolly Leather was for over 125 years, a British company supplying highly finished leather primarily to car manufacturers. The term is also used to describe the particular brand of leather itself, when fitted in a car interior....

     hide upholstery, Wilton carpets and West of England cloth headlining.
  • October 1963: All models had the windscreen washer bottle relocated to prevent it from freezing up.
  • November 1963: Carpets were replaced by rubber mats.
  • 17 February 1964: Launch of the Morris 1100 in Australia. It had a total of thirty-seven different modifications to make it suitable for Australian terrain, including a modified interior for greater comfort. A bench front seat was fitted, with the handbrake moved to a position between the driver's side of the seat and the door. A long, bent gear lever was used to clear the middle of the seat. Externally, over-riders were fitted to both the front and rear bumper bars and, as an optional extra, a solid or metal mesh sun visor could be fitted to the top windscreen arch to help "protect the front seat occupants from eye strain caused by direct sun rays." Another optional extra was a metal vertically slatted "Venetian Shade" which could be fitted internally to the back window. This was intended to prevent the interior becoming too hot.
  • September 1964: Revisions: all models have diaphragm spring clutch, improved heater, crush style sun visors and plastic framed rear view mirror.
  • 1964 (March 12–22): Introduction of the Innocenti J4 at the Torino Motor Show. The front end styling was very similar to the Morris 1100 sold in the UK. It was fitted with the straight eight bar grille, and similar side lamps, but with clear lenses.
  • Late 1964/early 1965: Launch of the MG Princess in the USA. 154 cars were sold.
  • January 1965: Introduction of the Crayford estate conversions of the ADO16.
  • September 1965: Introduction of the Wolseley 1100 and Riley Kestrel, both of which were mechanically similar to the MG 1100. The Wolseley had a strip speedometer, while the Riley Kestrel had round dials and a rev counter.
  • October 1965: Optional four-speed automatic transmission available on the Austin and Morris versions.
  • Late 1965: Introduction of the Mystique conversion by Creech Motors in Somerset.
  • March 1966: Morris 1100 Traveller and Austin 1100 Countryman launched at the Geneva Motor Show.
  • May 1966: Reclining front seats become available on all 1100s. When specified on the Traveller and Countryman the interior could be converted into a double bed as pictured.
  • July 1966: The Innocenti IM3S launched. The model lost over-riders, and was fitted with a different grille.
  • Mid-1966: Longbridge had developed a hatchback version of the Australian Morris 1500 known as the Nomad. This model would be launched in Australia in June 1969, but would be never sold in the UK.
  • September 1966: Morris 1100 production begins in Spain, using interior supplied from Innocenti.
  • Early 1967: 264 MG 1100 two door saloons were sent to Ireland in CKD form.
  • May 1967: Introduction of the Austin 1100 Countryman and Morris 1100 Traveller in South Africa
    South Africa
    The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

    .
  • June 1967: The 1275 cc engine became an optional extra on the MG, Riley, Vanden Plas and Wolseley versions, in single carburettor 58 bhp form. These models were specifically badged up using the 1275 cc badging.
  • Summer 1967: End of American sales of MG 1100. The Austin 1100 would be used as a place holder until the Austin America in 1968. The Austin 1100 featured a single large speedometer fitted in the centre of dashboard, similar to that fitted in De Luxe versions of the Morris / Austin 1100 Mark II and 1300.
  • August 1967: Launch of the Morris 1100 S in Australia
    Australia
    Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

    , with the 1275 cc engine.
  • October 1967: Launch of the 1100 Mark II models, with cropped rear fins (saloon models only), ventilated wheels, indicator side repeater lamps fitted to the front wings. A revised interior was also fitted. Austin and Morris versions had revised styling at the front end being fitted with a wider grille. Austin and Morris badges were relocated from the bonnet to the grille. Morris model now fitted with black crackle dashboard similar to the Austin. Rocker switches fitted instead of toggle switches on both models. Estate versions gain a simulated wood effect side trim. Still have Mark I styling at the rear. Introduction of the 1300 models, similar to the 1100 Mark II but with 1275 cc, 58 bhp engine and different front grilles. Morris, Austin and MG 1300 available in two and four door, while the Riley, Vanden Plas and Wolseley continued in four door. MG, Riley, Vanden Plas, Wolseley models were available with automatic transmission. Jensen convertible shown at the London Motor show. It was based around an Austin 1100 Countryman.
  • November 1967: A batch of fifty 1100 vans had been produced. Model never made it into production.
  • June 1968: without any formal announcement, it transpired that a more powerful twin carburettor version of BMC's 1,275 cc engine had found its way into manual gearbox versions of the MG, Riley, Wolseley and Vanden Plas models: automatic transmission versions retained the single carburettor engine.
  • June 1969: Australian Morris 1100 production ended, being replaced by the Morris 1500 and Morris Nomad
    Morris Nomad
    The Morris Nomad is a car which was produced by Leyland Australia for the Australian market from 1969 to 1972. It is a hatchback version of the Morris 1500 sedan, itself a locally produced BMC ADO16 design with a larger engine. When ordered with automatic transmission, the Nomad was fitted with a...

    . Nearly 90,000 had been built, all at the BMC Zetland, New South Wales
    Zetland, New South Wales
    Zetland is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Zetland is located 4 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney....

     factory.

  • May 1973: Launch of the Austin Allegro
    Austin Allegro
    The Austin Allegro is a small family car manufactured by British Leyland under the Austin name from 1973 until 1983. The same vehicle was built in Italy by Innocenti between 1974 and 1975 and sold as the Innocenti Regent...

    , replacement for the AD016 models, in the United Kingdom. However, the AD016 models remain in production alongside the Allegeo for the time being.
  • 1974: Production of the remaining AD016 models in the United Kingdom is discontinued.

ADO16 overseas

The car was sold with various names in different markets.

In Spain it was sold as Morris, Austin and MG, starting production in the Pamplona Authi (Automóviles de Turismo Hispano Ingleses) factory in 1966, and evolving by 1972 into the Austin Victoria
Austin Victoria
The Austin Apache was a small family car which was produced by British Leyland Motor Corporation's South African subsidiary, Leykor, between November 1971 and 1978. The Apache was the last ADO16 car to be produced...

.

In Denmark the ADO16 bore the Morris Marina
Morris Marina
The Morris Marina is a car which was manufactured by the Morris division of British Leyland in the UK throughout the 1970s, which was a period of great turbulence and difficulty for the British car industry. It was known in some markets as the Austin Marina, Leyland Marina, and Morris 1.7...

 name. The MG models were sold as the MG Sports Sedan there, as it was in North America from 1962, and was available with a two-door bodyshell that would not be available in the UK until 1968. The Vanden Plas Princess was briefly the MG Princess 1100 in North America, while that market also saw an unusual two-door Austin 1100 (with a hybrid of Mark I and Mark II components).

The Austin America was sold in the US, Canada and Switzerland between 1968 and 1972. This two door version of the car featured a 60 bhp 1275 cc engine. Various modifications were made to suit the US market including an "anti-pollution air injection system", a split circuit braking system, rocker switches in place of some of the dashboard mounted knobs, a "hazard warning system" and flush door locks.

The ADO16 also formed the basis of the Australian Morris 1500 sedan, Morris 1300 sedan and Morris Nomad
Morris Nomad
The Morris Nomad is a car which was produced by Leyland Australia for the Australian market from 1969 to 1972. It is a hatchback version of the Morris 1500 sedan, itself a locally produced BMC ADO16 design with a larger engine. When ordered with automatic transmission, the Nomad was fitted with a...

 five door, the Italian Innocenti Morris IM3 and Austin I4 and I5, the more powerful South African Austin, Morris and Wolseley 11/55 and Austin Apache and the Spanish Austin Victoria
Austin Victoria
The Austin Apache was a small family car which was produced by British Leyland Motor Corporation's South African subsidiary, Leykor, between November 1971 and 1978. The Apache was the last ADO16 car to be produced...

and the Austin de Luxe of 1974 to 1977, which had a 998 cc engine.

The Austin Apache was produced until 1977, the last of the ADO16 line.

External links

  • BMC 1100/1300 development history
  • http://www.the1100club.com/ Website of The 1100 Club, UK ADO16 club
  • http://www.authi.net Website of Authi enthusiasts (in Spanish)
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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