Not to mention lettuced quality cars that came out of the factory already rusty. Perhaps related to the accountants touch I suppose.
Ha ! Yep they were useless at applying underseal .
I think there were many problems there . Communist controlled union leaders ( As was our union ,ETU when I was an apprentice) , poor management and a poor product. When they launched the MINI it could have been a saviour , but it was sold too cheap ( Ford said that) they even nearly missed out on the name MINI which was suddenly on everyone's lips. The first ones were called Austin 7 , a Morris Minor shrunken down & the engine turned sideways .
They also marketed other marques under MINI , Morris , Riley, Wolseley , all with different fronts /backs / badges etc .
Original Mini was carp in my opinion , draughty , gear stick 3 mtrs long , under powered , noisy, no radio , some I believe no heater , rubbish side windows , no rustproofing , an exposed floor panel edge taking all the rain & road grit etc, and the distributor exposed to rain behind the grille .
The designer said the public didn't want luxury , they wanted a cheap car . ( He drove a RR)
Their other saviour, later, could have been Honda with their excellent engines etc but I don't know the reasons ...the management parted company with them .
Ford seemed to have the right ideas with their mass produced popular big sellers like Cortina , Escort , Transit etc
