#mini morris

[jorgedaburgos]

Mini Morris modello Oxford, l'auto usata da Miss Marple in "C'è un cadavere in biblioteca" (1984).

Come mi piacciono questi film inglesi tra il divertente e il giallo!

[specialcar]

Mini Morris

[retropiart]

A car (Mini Morris) owned by a bloke called Bean.

[frenchcurious]

Morris Mini 850 1959 par Jidéhem, pour Spirou. - source Jean-Pol Arnould.

[diabolus1exmachina]

Volkswagen EA 48

The Volkswagen EA 48 was a very important car for Volkswagen, and it has not received the historical recognition it deserves. It was the first car designed entirely by Volkswagen, without engineering interference from the Porsche family. The Volkswagen Beetle had been a Porsche design, and Volkswagen wanted to experiment with an even smaller, cheaper, and even more logical vehicle. A rival for the Citroën 2CV, a Mini of German origin. It had to be a small car on the outside - it measured less than 3.5 meters, and its wheelbase was only 2,050 mm, 35 cm shorter than that of a Beetle - but to make enormous use of its interior space. Volkswagen decided to build a completely new platform for a project named EA 48, which would officially start in 1953. With the help of Gustav Mayer and Heinrich Siebt, development of a four-seater, front-engine, air-cooled, front-wheel drive utility began. At the time, quite a revolution. The Volkswagen EA 48 used a McPherson-type front suspension system, practically being a pioneer worldwide. This scheme freed up space for the engine and was simple to manufacture. In a car like the Volkswagen EA 48, the rationalization of space was one of the most important maxims. Extremely narrow 120 mm section tires were mounted, and instead of opting for a mechanics with four opposed cylinders like that of the Volkswagen Beetle, a two-cylinder mechanics was chosen. Two opposed cylinders, again creating a clear parallel with the Citroën 2CV. They tried to develop a 700 cc boxer, air-cooled, with a fan located on the crankshaft. The idea was soon discarded and a new 594 cc boxer was chosen, whose fan was driven by a belt, as in the Beetle. The engine barely developed 18 CV of power at 3,800 rpm, and although the behavior of the car was described As a sports car by its developers, the engine did not receive much praise. It was a very light car, and thanks to its 574 kg weight, it was capable of reaching almost 100 km/h top speed. The problem with the engine was its cooling: it overheated, and it wasn't until an original Porsche fan was attached to it that its temperature was manageable. This setback delayed its development.

Its interior was the most spartan of the moment. Its four seats were practically beach chairs, a cloth hung between metal supports, again seeking the highest space-cost ratio. Only one of the two prototypes built is still in existence, and by now you may be wondering why it doesn't have a window or tailgate. The absence of a window is due to its status as a prototype, but curiously, Volkswagen was thinking of offering the openable boot hatch as an option.

The project seemed to be prospering, but after two years of development, the president of Volkswagen decided to hastily cancel the project. Heinz Nordhoff thought that the Volkswagen 600 would snatch sales from the Beetle, which, after a difficult market launch, was beginning to take off commercially. In the late 1950s Morris would launch the Mini, with similar ideas to the EA 48 - albeit a more modern liquid-cooled transverse engine - and huge commercial success. Possibly someone at Volkswagen regretted canceling its development.

[claviculaycalavera]

[guille977]

Ford Falcon, Ford Mustang and Mini

[barbararossathings]