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G0TEZ > TODAY 30.08.13 13:14l 54 Lines 2327 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 880272G0TEZ
Read: GUEST
Subj: MINI- Aug 26
Path: IZ3LSV<F1OYP<ON0AR<GB7CIP
Sent: 130830/0720Z @:GB7CIP.#32.GBR.EU #:35192 [Caterham Surrey GBR] $:880272G0
From: G0TEZ@GB7CIP.#32.GBR.EU
To : TODAY@WW
One of the worst kept secrets of the Austin and Morris Minis was that the van
version was a a lot more fun than the car. Not pretty but a better power to
weigh ratio and a selection of final drive ratios. It shot around like a
supercharged Go-Kart !
Due to the endemic bad management by British industry, The Mini was made into
yet another Volkswagen, something which pleased Jeremy von Klarkson who likes
to sneer at real British cars and pretend that, what he calls British cars are
in actual fact, mainly Volkswagen and BMW.
His idea of a good car is an expensive one, like the Bugatti Veyron. He was,
of course, too young to remember a real mini.
If he could get his hands on a real (Brit) surviving mini, he could find out
just how much fun you could get from an 800 cc engine.
I have driven the Cooper, the 1800,1200 and other versions. Thje only extra
decoration you needed with a mini car was a pretty girl in a mini skirt !
> On this day in 1959, the British Motor Corporation (BMC) launches
> its newest car, the small, affordable-at a price tag of less than
> $800-Mark I Mini. The diminutive Mini went on to become one of
> the best-selling British cars in history.
>
> The story behind the Mini began in August 1956, when President
> Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal in
> response to the American and British decision to withdraw funding
> for a new dam's construction due to Egypt's Communist ties. The
> international crisis that followed led to fuel shortages and
> gasoline rationing across Europe. Sir Leonard Lord, head of
> BMC--formed by the merger of automakers Austin and Morris in
> 1952--wanted to produce a British alternative to the tiny,
> fuel-efficient German cars that were cornering the market after
> the Suez Crisis. He turned to Alec Issigonis, a Turkish immigrant
> who as chief engineer at Morris Motors had produced the Morris
> Minor, a teapot-shaped cult favorite that had nonetheless never
> seriously competed with the Volkswagen "Beetle" or Fiat's 500 or
> Cinquecento.
Another car with amazing performance, Vive La France, especially over plowed
fields and rough tracks was the Citroen 2 CV.
73 - Ian, G0TEZ @ GB7CIP
Message timed: 08:20 on 2013-Aug-30 GMT+1
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