(first posted 5/23/2013) By 1961, the Rootes Group was established as one of the Big Four in the UK, along with BMC (Austin/Morris/MG/Wolseley/Riley), Ford and Vauxhall (representing GM and then still separate from Opel). Rover and Triumph trailed behind all four, and would eventually combine with BMC to form British Leyland. But Rootes had two major issues, and the Super Minx was its response to the bigger of the two, size wise, anyway.
Rootes had no significant presence in the small car market, where the market was defined by the novel but complicated Mini and the pragmatic Ford Anglia, and with only one product range in the important mid-market. This was the Hillman Minx (above), also known as the Audax series, which whilst available in three brands, was of limited appeal against the more modern looking Ford Cortina, the determinedly fashionable Vauxhall Victor and the ubiquitous Austin Cambridge and Morris Oxford twins from BMC.
The Audax series dated from 1957 with an engine from 1953 and the advantages of American inspired styling, by Raymond Loewy, which meant that frequent updates were necessary. It went from series I to series IV between 1957 and 1963, was produced in every day Hillman, luxury Singer (CC here), and sporty Sunbeam (CC here) variations.
Rootes addressed the first issue with the Hillman Imp (CC here) – Britain’s first volume produced, rear–engined car which came with a list of issues that started with innovative but unproven conceptual design and went onto compromised execution, a new factory in new area (Linwood in Scotland, closed in 1981) through inadequate quality, limited dealer network and insufficient volume, collectively resulting in commercial failure.
The second issue, of an inadequate mid-market presence, was to be addressed by a new Minx, to supersede the Audax with a more modern product. The Audax had by now reached series IV, with a 1590cc version of the 1953 Rootes OHV four cylinder engine and considerably cleaned and toned down styling, compared with the 1957 original. Rootes started work on the successor.
With an extended wheelbase of 101in (Audax: 96in), and weighing in at 2400lbs, several hundred more than the Minx, it became apparent that this larger new car was not a direct replacement for the Audax series, and instead Rootes determined to market it as a supplement for the Minx, and as a competitor for the Austin Cambridge, Morris Oxford and Vauxhall Victor, rather than the Ford Cortina. Thus, the Super Minx was born, at the 1961 London Motor Show.
The Super Minx (and indeed the Audax Minx and every Rootes car except the Imp, up to the last, the 1970 Hilman Avenger/Plymouth Cricket)) was a defiantly conventional car – OHV straight four engine, four speed gearbox (synchromesh on top three gears only!) with optional overdrive, coil springs at the front, semi-elliptic at the rear, drum brakes (until 1963), recirculating ball steering, a heater and an optional radio. Bench seats or twin front seat literally meeting in the middle (unusual in Europe) were offered and the floor mounted handbrake was to the right of the driver’s seat (in RHD cars).
The Super Minx continued the traditional Rootes philosophy of offering the UK customer something technically conservative but with styling to match current American trends – hence the panoramic front and rear screens, roof line, truncated tail fins and front styling of the original series I and II versions. Closely involved in the styling was Roy Axe, Rootes Director of Design from 1966.
Rootes were always prompt with revisions, or at least in revisions they considered to be, substantial enough to warrant a new designation. In 1962, came the series II, visually the same but with front disc brakes being the most exciting change. In 1963, the series III had a revised six light roof line design, giving a much more formal look and seeming to match the current Austin Cambridge almost blow for blow – 1.6 litre, 60 bhp engines, wheelbase, length and width all within inches, weight the same, even matching size fuel tanks and a dual tone side stripe – and competing directly against the Vauxhall Victor, which also had US derived style and all of them half a step above the lighter Ford Cortina.
In 1964, came the series IV, visually identical to the series III, but with a 1725cc version of the Rootes OHV engine, with 65 hp and a capability of nearly 90 mph. This moved the car clearly ahead of the Cortina and with clear blue water between it and the Austin Cambridge and Morris Oxford, which stayed at 1622 cc to their end, in 1969. Just to keep everything simple, Rootes gave us also the Minx series VI in 1965, with the same 1725cc engine. A Super Minx in a slightly smaller package, in other words. Rootes, of course, still had the same problem of lack if mid-market presence as they did in 1961.
In 1966, Rootes replaced the Super Minx with the Arrow range, badged as the Hillman Hunter in the UK and the Sunbeam Arrow in North America (CC here). The estate and the Sceptre lasted until 1967.
Rootes being Rootes, offered the Super Minx in more than one badge. Hillman for mere mortals, the Singer Vogue (above) for the slightly more affluent;
and as the Humber Sceptre (above) for the “you know I’m more affluent, don’t you?” group (oddly, the Sceptre kept the Superminx Series I and II roof line until 1967).
Chevrolet, Oldsmobile, Buick anyone? Sunbeam (Pontiac?) never had a version – the widely accepted story is that the Humber Sceptre was intended to be a Sunbeam but this was changed late on – hence the twin carburettor engine and the grille shape close to the 1955-67 Audax Minx based Rapier, like this. This range of badges also reflected the BMC offering, with its rountine Austin and Morris, the mildly luxurious, mildly sporty Riley 4/72, the luxury Wolesley 15/60 and the sports MG Magnette.
Most would consider the series IV to be the true Super Minx. I’m sure my Dad would have. He wasn’t a car guy, but he bought a 1966 series IV Super Minx saloon in 1967 to replace a Audax Minx series IV he’d had since 1964. It was Kingfisher Blue with a black stripe and black interior – an absolute match for this car I saw in September 2012. He stayed with Hillman, then Chrysler Europe, then Talbot (after the Peugeot buy out of Chrysler Europe in 1978) until 1985 – a total of 11 cars in all; a true Rootes loyalist right to the end.
Nice writeup! Rootes was both innovative and highly conservative. Good overview.
Somehow, I’ve always found British cars reminiscent of traditional British society: social class defines everything, including your vehicle. Even if your fancy Humber is nothing more than a tarted-up Hillman, it is the car made exactly for your standing. BMC did the exact same thing with its Wolseleys and Rileys.
Interesting point… perhaps that’s why all our manufacturers died out in the 70s along with (the majority of) that social true-ism…
I also wonder to what extent the need for clearly defined rungs on the ladder springs up from how pervasive company cars are in Britain. Hillmans for the rank-and-file, Sunbeams for the top sellers, Singers for lower management, and Humbers for the vice-presidents; all available used at giveaway prices that further depress the private market for new cars.
Is it just me or is this car crying out for stacked quad headlights?
It’s not just you.
Yes, that would have been more cutting edge than what they did. I read somewhere years ago that the Super Minx’s low headlights with the distinctive half-moon parking lights above were due to a very last-minute preproduction change when Rootes realized that high mounted headlamps were so 1950s and grille mounted was the way to go.
Nice writeup, I have a 66 Superminx I bought it to harvest the disc brake front axle and 1600cc powertrain for my 59 Minx, slightly wider track ball joints instead of kingpins discs and it bolts right in.
A couple of minor nits the OHV 1390 engine hit the market in 55 and the Superminx was the first with syncro on first I have a 62 Humber90/Superminx gearbox fitted to my 3A. The 1390 was bored and stroked to 1725cc then for 66 a new 5 main bearing block was introduced the 66 Superminx was also available with Aluminium cylinder head and twinchoke Solex and twin branch headers same as in the Singer Vogue, At the other end of the power scale in the stationwagon a Perkins diesel could be had
My brother’s friend bought his Dad’s orange Hillman Hunter GLS, a quick car with stylish Rostyle wheels and a black vinyl roof around 1976.
A family who attended our church back in the ’60’s had a Humber Sceptre (in Johnstown, PA no less – never figured out where they go it) that I always thought was one of the most dowdy yet strange looking automobiles ever made.
There was a Sceptre at the club AGM this year quite rare cars here
I wonder if Adrian (in the Hillman club)still has both his series 1 and series 2 Sceptres.
More importantly, where would they ever get parts there , then??
Meh…this car does absolutely nothing for me due to the fact I have never knowingly seen one or knew they existed back in the day. Looks like a British version of a Rambler with a Checker greenhouse.
Euro/British cars I did know about in the 60’s:
Morris Minor – yes.
Cortina – yes.
Triumph – yes.
MGs – yes.
Citroens – yes.
Jaguar – yes.
Renault – yes.
RR – yes.
Sunbeam – yes.
Austin-Healy – yes.
Mercedes – yes.
Volvo – yes.
VW – yes.
Everything else? No.
The plane at the airport? Looks like a PBY-5A. Great plane!
“Looks like a British version of a Rambler with a Checker greenhouse.”
Great description.
The real English Checker is the Humber Super Snipe, a neighbour has one of those, working on a post now.
Ah, the Super Snipe. Mad Men outside, Downton Abbey inside.
Perfect, well done!
The Superminx, especially in this six-window style, is somewhat analogous to GM’s large C-Bodies (Olds 98; Buick Electra), both in their position in the lineup (longer wheelbase, etc.) as well as the actual body styling.
Very nice write-up; thanks!
At last! Dad owned a ’62 Hillman SuperMInx bought in North Carolina and then driven across the continent to Vancouver, BC. Flat white with a red interior. As a child it was reviled for its lack of a radio, and then when it started to rust, for the repaint my father gave it with a brush! When our new ’75 Honda Civic came on the scene the SuperMInx’s days were numbered. I still recall dad asking the local garage how much they’d give him for the Hillman, to which they replied “how much will you pay us to take it?”
When my great-aunt Bessie wanted to sell her Austin Westminster A95 back in the seventies, the garage gave her $50 and said she could keep it. So she kept driving it.
Nice write-up! I remember the Super Minx as being a very decent car with comfortable seats, a fine gearshift and a good driving position. I thought the entire range from the Super Minx to the Humber Sceptre a much better bet than the equivalent BMC Farinas, the Morris Oxford and the Riley 4/72.
I am becoming quite the Rootes fan. The more I read about these on CC, them more convinced I am that I would have been a Rootes man back in the day.
I like this car overall, but . . . The roofline seems overly tall, which makes the rest of the car look quite stubby. The Audax seemed to avoid this problem, and perhaps this is a testament to Raymond Loewy’s skill as a designer. But perhaps the tall greenhouse would have been less jarring to someone in the UK in the 60s than to an American.
The steering wheel and dash on that early Super Minx is very, very nice.
It must be how the proportions come across in photographs, because the Superminx is much lower in reality and also wider, the Audax Minx is the one that is tall and narrow.
One minor correction also (a mate has a Superminx wagon), there wasn’t a series 4 Minx, that was intended to be the Superminx so the skipped straight to series 5.
In the mid-1960’s there were still relatively few motorways in the UK, and the extreme narrowness of most roads (a good number little changed for 100 years – or even 300) was a real physical limitation. The tall, narrow proportions were more a necessity than a styling choice. I remember seeing a Pontiac Grand Prix (with Alberta plates!) on a two-lane ‘A’ (trunk) road in northern England in about 1967 – it barely fit into its own lane.
I’m also struck by the high quality of interiors of many British cars of this era. The industry may not have been able to afford massive engineering investments, but they still had access to the craftsmanship of great upholsterers and woodworkers!
http://bringatrailer.com/2013/05/20/the-sunbeam-youve-never-seen-1965-venezia/
The photos of the Super Minx help the bat ears of the Sunbeam Venezia to make just a little more sense.
In South Africa this model Hillman, the previous model, and I think the next one too, had Peugeot 404 engines and Chrysler Valiant differentials. The later, more squared, Hillman 2000 had the 504 engine. They were faster than Peugeots because they were lighter and had different gearing – still the same starting problems in cold, wet winters, that is if you did not change the plugs and set the points and timing in Autum, sorry Fall!
Dawid Botha
Stellenbosch
South Africa
The Iranians fitted Peugeot engine to the Hunter late in its life 2000 or so to meet emissions, yeah dont forget the Hunter only just finished production as the Peykan(donkey) in Iran.
You’re doing it again. Another CC that is close to, but not quite, a car from my family’s past: Saab (V4 vs our 2-stroke 3), Mazda pickup (vs my Courier), Renault (Dauphine-based vs. my mother’s actual Dauphine), and now the Super Minx. Sort of a time-warp version of the CC Effect?
My grandfather had a Mark III Minx when I was young. He was a Scot who came to the US just before the Depression. By the time I came around in 62, he was thoroughly Americanized, except for his accent, the plethora of thistles in his home decoration, and his cars. I only recall the Minx from pictures, including one of it on our driveway between two huge snow drifts. (Philly winters seem to have been a lot tougher in the early sixtys!). The Hillman was replaced with a 68 (?) Cortina, which he drove until he was too old to drive (1977?).
Hi,
thanks for the good quality input to the blog.
I must admit I never knew the Superminx was ever offered in North America, or with Peugeot engines in Africa. Good stuff.
The aircraft is indeed a Catalina, at the Imperial War Museum in England (www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-duxford) – probably the best aviation museum in Europe.
I can still remember seeing a Super Minx for the first time when they were launched, and wondering what the hell they were playing at. The Audax cars were always so stylish, and I assumed Rootes had styled them, so I couldn’t understand how they managed to produce such a dumpy looking dogs’ dinner of a car as the Super Minx.
So they were still making cars with no synchro on first gear as late as 1970? Interesting! I don’t think I’ve ever driven a stick that wasn’t synchromesh. Great write-up, BTW.
The last car I can think of with no synchro at all was the Fiat 500 which was ‘all-crash’ until the mid 1970s.
The Citroen 2CV never had synchro on 1st, right to the end of production about 1989,
Hillmans up untill the gearing was raised for motorway use were described as having a three speed gearbox with emergency low, required only for hill starts etc so the lack of syncromesh would not even be noticed during normal operation as you’d start off in second, With the 64 series V Minx the rear axle ratio was lowered to 3,89; 1 and the engine enlarged to 1592cc giving the cars a faster top and cruising speed to suit the new motorways disc brakes were fitted to help stop them , The crash on first box has its origins prewar in the ten hp sidevalve Minxs.
I find myself hankering for a Humber scepter the photo doesn’t show the car of well ..but in the flesh there realy quite cool they were out of date when they arrived 62 they were realy a late 50s car car and couldn’t realy compete with the rover2000 triumph2000 cortina. But who cares they just to me anyway seemed very cool there’s one near me were I live old English white(cream) over pidgin grey ( light crey) and its great.
What are the green/blue/yellow/red lights in the middle of the dash gauges, over what looks light a gas gauge? Turn signal lights? Warning lights? Color-coded tachometer?
I had a ’64 Super Minx in the mid-70’s, exactly like the blue/white one pictured. And in Bismarck, ND, no one knew what it was, and I was always asked if it was a Rambler.
As I recall, one of the 4 colored lamps (the green one, I think) was a common turn signal indicator. The others were idiot lights for voltage, water temp, and oil pressure.
The four lights you refer to were indeed the warning lights – green for indicators, red for oil pressure, orange for ignition on and blue for main beam. That was your full set of warning lights in 1966!
Colour coded tachometer – the only one I’ve ever seen was in a European Talbot (nee Chrysler) Horizon around 1981. An Horizon was one of the 11 cars I refer to.
It’s the opposite way round for the red & amber, viz green – signals, blue – high beam, red – charge/ignition, amber – oil pressure. That was the common arrangement of the four colors on many British vehicles of the day, although not universal. For example, some of the 1960’s Fords used amber for the signals and green for oil pressure.
And yes, that’s the fuel gauge below the lights. The cluster to the right of the fuel gauge has the temperature gauge at the bottom, the other two positions being for the optional oil-pressure gauge and ammeter.
It’s just about visible in the picture above, but there’s a circular “Rootes” blanking plate in the central part of the dash between the two heater sliders which is where the optional clock was fitted, if ordered.
Thanks for that, I just bought a 66 and had no idea what they were for. The Reliant Scimitar GTE had 4 warning lights but they included brake on/fail, ignition, oil pressure, and something else I’ve forgotten – but all labelled.
I’m really surprised to read references to Super Minxes in the US. My parents’ first car was a pre-Audax 1954 Minx, which I THINK I remember (though maybe the memories are prompted by seeing pictures, and I certainly recall Imps in my youth, then the Arrow (Hunter) and Cricket (Avenger) but I remember the Super Minx only from trips to England and English car books (though my 1963 edition of The Ladybird Book of Motor Cars only includes the Audax Minx, “an attractive family saloon … modern in every way … brisk cruising speed” and the Imp: “outstanding”).
What my brother forgets to mention is the foot operated headlight dipswitch beside the clutch pedal and that the colour coded warning lights had little covers which could be rolled down at night to reduce the brightness of the light. And the metal flaps over the keyholes on the boot and front doors. And that the boot had an annoying habit of springing open at 60mph.
My father was a Hillman man for a good many years, so I grew up riding in both a Hillman Minx and a Super Minx.
I missed the Hillman Husky he had owned previously, as a couple of years before I was born in 1966 he had traded it in for a 1961 Hillman Minx estate, officially two-tone grey, but in reality it was more like grey and dusky cream (with red seats and interior trim). That Minx estate had been owned by the manager of a Rootes garage, and as such had one or two little extras which weren’t found on normal production cars of the time, such as an extra red warning light for low brake fluid, and an alarm system of sorts, operated by a secret switch hidden behind the panel above the lower parcel shelf. Apparently dad hadn’t been told about it, and discovered it by accident while feeling around under the parcel shelf one day while stopped at a red light, finding a switch, and, of course, wondering what it did, pressing it, and having the engine cut out and the horn start blaring!
That Minx estate served as the family workhorse for years, carrying the three of us plus all manner of luggage on family holidays, picnic gear on daytrips, small pieces of furniture with the rear seat folded down, and so on. When little I would squeeze between mom and dad on the front bench seat, then when a little larger would be able to stretch out across the rear seat to sleep on a late-night drive home from a holiday trip. And for trips with schoolfriends, we could pile four of us across the rear seat and still have room for another three or four to ride in the rear cargo area.
Come 1977, it was time for the estate to go, but dad stuck with Hillman and acquired a 1965 Super Minx which was for sale locally and still in very good condition, this time a saloon in light blue. I spent many of my teenage years riding around in that car.
That is the car i grew up knowing. We still have it at home and my Dad wants to dispose it off, any offers? Wait for the pics soon
Paul
In reference to “(oddly, the Sceptre kept the Superminx Series I and II roof line until 1967).” the Sceptre always had its own roofline, lower and sleeker than the Super Minx / Vogue, with different glass and rear fins and a taller windscreen. The differences are subtle, but obvious if you see a Sceptre next to a Mk1 Super Minx or Vogue… It was unaltered for the Mk2, but the front end styling changed from a similar one to the Vogue, to a twin-headlamp version of the Super Minx’s metalwork.
This is probably the easiest source to compare pics of the roof shapes in one place.
http://www.simoncars.co.uk/rootes/sminx.html
My mum had a 1966 Super Minx, the first car I was driven in – I actually cried when she sold it in 1985 (I was 8). I have fond memories of my mum having to use the starting handle on cold mornings, and the speedo chattering away as we drove – my mum used to say it’s teeth were chattering due to the cold. I’m sure she wasn’t so keen on the cold starts and 25MPG.
I always wondered why they changed that roof, it may have been more modern but the pre 65 (I’m sure it was 65 not 63) roof and wrap-around glass is so much prettier. The estate version with its split tailgate is practical and cool, almost as much as the rarer and extremely pretty convertible. I need one of these in my life again.
Saw a minx in either Boston or Brookline ma parked on the street 15 years ago. Had no idea what it was until I read the writing on the back.
I’ve seen one or two here in the U.S. over the years, and once saw a Humber Super Snipe on the road. Don’t know if they were officially imported or brought over privately.
I saw a few Super Minxes in Central Florida when my family moved there in 1966, but they seemed to vanish from the roads in pretty short order. By the way, the later Humber Sceptres fell prey to apparent cost-cutting engineering, with the Super Minx styling a lot more obvious. Interestingly enough, though, the Sceptre never got the revised squared-off roofline.
The Sceptre had its own roofline, which was slightly ‘faster’ plus overhung the window glass, as can be seen on this photo.
In 1974, I bought a ’62 Super Minx convertible for $50 – the cheapest car in the Washington Post classifieds that week. It was mustard-yellow with a red interior and very rusty. Spare parts were very hard to find, but I scraped together what I could from the local salvage yard and Bap-Geon – the only foreign-car parts-store in the area and got it roadworthy again. I patched up the rust as best I could and sneaked it out of the driveway for occasional illegal joyrides until I got caught by my folks. Wound up selling it for $275 to a lawyer from Maryland.
Ten years later, I bought my next Rootes product – a green ’67 Sunbeam Alpine. By then there was a club to support the cars and I was able to keep it on the road for 12 years.
I remember early on, before I learned about the club, finding an upper control-arm to replace the Alpine’s cracked one at Norm’s Garage – a former two-bay gas-station and hole-in-the-wall salvage-yard on Route 1 north of Fredericksburg.
The donor-car? A 1963 Humber Scepter! Having read that these came stock with overdrive, I was real excited about the possibility of upgrading my Alpine – until I looked under that Humber and found out someone had beat me to it!
The ’50s Hillmans had a reputation for being one of the better, more reliable British imports. I’d love to have a decent late ’50s Minx today.
Happy Motoring, Mark
If you take away the eyebrow turn signals, the grille and headlights look a lot like a BMW Neue Klasse, without the characteristic BMW twin kidneys. How have I managed not to notice this before?
My Dad had a 62 Super Minx in maroon over white. Registration 2329TD. It went in 66 to be replaced by an Austin 1800 at which time it was rusted through on the front wings and bonnet. I got a right royal clip round the ear for pointing a hose straight at the hole in the bonnet. I was 6.
Incidentally the 1800 only lasted 6 months before Dad got too exasperated to be bother with it any more – and bought a Cortina…
Good article and better comments .
I was never happy with Rootes products .
-Nate
Hard to believe, but the Humber Sceptre was considered quite controversial when it was introduced. Previously, the Humber marque had been big, semi-prestige cars, all the way up to the Pullman whose acceleration you could measure on a grandfather clock.
The Sceptre was more mass-market, and I’m not sure the Humber old guard were ever reconciled to it. However, Rover/Triumph/Jag killed off the market for plush buses like Humbers and Austin Princesses, and by 1967 the Sceptre was the only Humber to remain in production.
I can remember being a small child sitting in the car in some sort of grass car park. It was raining but summer I think. Parked next to us was a gleaming black and chrome car which fascinated me and I think that was a mark II humber sceptre. It’s the closest thing to my memory I can find from the internet. The feeling I had was what was this crazy old fashioned car? this would have been around 1970.
The Scepter that donated my Alpine’s replacement control arm also donated a spare 13″ wheel as my car was missing it’s spare when I got it. I thought the early Scepter front was pretty bizarre-looking, with that upright grill and quad headlights.
I much preferred the big Super Snipes. I’ve seen a handfull over the years, including an estate, and a mid ’60s ‘Imperial’ version I found in a Virginia Beach salvage-yard 30 years ago. Somewhere, I still have an ‘Imperial’ badge off that car. All of them were black, including a ’60 saloon that came up for sale in Arlington Virginia about 20 years ago. That one was pretty nice but needed brake-work, and the thought of trying to find parts scared me off.
Happy Motoring, Mark
Happy memories of sitting on the middle of those front seats, Dad driving, Grandad in the passenger seat and me squeezed in between, doing my b st to avoid the gear lever! Surely not 50 years ago!
I like Rootes Group cars, but you knew that, and I recently updated my classic to a 1966 MK4 Superminx estate 1724cc engine and 4 speed, in Capri blue with off white top, very origonal car it is still in the factory paint though that will change as I remove various battle scars from its 55 years on Kiwi roads, its bigger and more comfortable than the 59 model Ive had for years and it rides better and much quieter with less wind noise.
If it hadn’t had that face since 1961 I’d have thought they’d pasted a Fiat 124 grille on it by way of an update.
Speaking of, they cheaped out on the Series 4 greenhouse by using the same rear upper door frames the wagons had all along rather than tooling up a new one that fit the sedan shape a bit better.
Roy Axe was also responsible for the Chrysler/Talbot/Plymouth Horizon/Dodge Omni.
The upper frames are not the same. No Volvo 145/245 cop-out here.
I still have my Superminx estate it got a partial respray so the repaired tailgates match the car it now has a Weber twin choke carb and the tubular freeflows will be cloned soon, its a good roadworthy driveable car that easily keeps pace with modern traffic and tows trailers quite often simply because it can.
The high mounted turn signals were also found on the 1962 Toyopet Sport X.
I’ll bet that car drove pretty cool back in it’s infancy!! Seem to recall reading that “brit rides” had really poor heaters in that era.
Needs some white stripe tires and “rain awnings”.
Curious contrast: Rootes was forever reshaping roofs and fins and noses to keep its cars up-to-date, at least in terms of appearance; whereas at BMC, once a set of doors had been finalised, they were foisted on multiple whole different series of cars and damn the consequences. I appreciate that doors are probably more complex pressings, but the contrast between Rootes (and indeed Ford and Vauxhall), constantly shaking up the look of the range in order to remain current, and BMC, creating a design (Minor, ADO16, Farinas) and then doggedly sticking to it forever, come hell or high water, is an interesting one.
BMC did many proposals to update their cars – the best ones came from Leyland Australia, in fact. But the problem was, they were incompetently-run and in big trouble by the time of the Leyland merger.
The 1100/1300 was a best-seller and the Mini made no profit. So it was a good job they left those alone. There was an idea for a neat 1100 reskin which looked a bit like a Peugeot 104, but no money…
The evergreen Farina cars were supposed to be replaced quite quickly, but (thanks to Issigonis and the rest of the muppets) the Farina replacements were so awful, sales bombed and they had to keep the Farinas going alongside and unchanged forever. Or until the Marina was rush-jobbed into production, in fact.
Rootes/Chrysler managed to make no money either (partly due to the horrendous interference in the economy) but at least they did fund (well, Chrysler did) some decent, if stolid new designs like the Arrow and Avenger. They were unfortunately badly thrown-together and then the EEC and ultimately the Japanese were invented.
So then Chrysler US nearly died and so did their European operations.
But the Audax cars really were part of the vernacular way back then.
Lengthen the boot and take 10% off the greenhouse’s height I claim it as an improvement.