ado16.info club desk

15 hours ago

Australian Design

Yesterday we featured the BMC-Leyland Australia production facilities, the Australian division was also responsible for development of the ADO16...

...nine of the original Morris 1100 arrived in Australia in 1963, they were imported from England and test-driven a total of nearly 200,000 miles in the Outback with one car travelling more than 75,000 miles – this resulted in around 40 modifications being made for Australian production, most notably inside was the front bench seat whilst in the boot an access hole was made for fuel sender unit – something the whole world would have benefited from!

Our lead image is actually from February 1965 when the Morris 1100 was joined by the Mini Deluxe also with hydrolastic suspension; our second image we think dates to the launch of the Morris 1100 in February, 1964. Perhaps some of you can help with the next images; it’s an Australian prototype and for us the door handles suggest it came after the 1300 & 1500 Sedans coded YDO15 and the Nomad models designated YDO9 – we wonder if this is what the Marina could have been but really we don’t know.

As for the YDO9, that started life in the UK at Longbridge – our fourth image is the UK prototype but we follow it two images of 1968 prototypes in Australia; interestingly they still have the traditional ADO16 door handles despite the fact the model would be launched in June, 1969 with flush door handles.

With thanks to British Leyland Chronicles.

We’re the global umbrella for the ADO16, the BMC/British Leyland 1100/1300 – in well over 60 countries and with a Facebook Group of over 2,850 members! You can join us too; the only ADO16 club with a FREE membership level: www.ado16.info/membership-join ... See MoreSee Less

ado16.info club desk

2 days ago

BMC-Leyland Australia – Victoria Park Factory

The Victoria Park BMC-Leyland factory complex was sited in the Zetland and Waterloo inner suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales and was where the Australian ADO16 and its subsequent derivatives were manufactured...

The factory complex was developed during the mid-1950’s and even by 1958 the cars had a local content of 96%. The facility had four main factories and the plant was capable of producing a range of models and variants in any sequence.

We hope these images which capture all the Australian built ADO16 derivatives give you a real sense of the scale of the Australian facility.

With special thanks to the BMC-Leyland Australia Heritage Group Inc.

We’re the global umbrella for the ADO16, the BMC/British Leyland 1100/1300 – in well over 60 countries and with a Facebook Group of over 2,850 members! You can join us too; the only ADO16 club with a FREE membership level: www.ado16.info/membership-join ... See MoreSee Less

ado16.info club desk

3 days ago

Australia Day

We celebrate Australia Day of the Commonwealth of Australia with a look back to June, 1969...

...production of the Australian Morris 1100 ended, being replaced by the Morris 1300 automatic four-door saloon and the Morris 1500 four-door saloon (both with the Mark II ADO16 body) and the Morris Nomad five-door hatchback – however these new cars were not coded ADO16, the new 1300 & 1500 sedans were coded YDO15 and the Nomad models were designated YDO9.

The newly formed British Leyland Motor Corporation of Australia, of which the BMC Australia continued to trade as a division until 1970, obviously had press images of the new models but they also sent out some colour postcards to their dealers – we feature a small selection of both.

With thanks to Dean Gray.

We’re the global umbrella for the ADO16, the BMC/British Leyland 1100/1300 – in well over 60 countries and with a Facebook Group of over 2,850 members! You can join us too; the only ADO16 club with a FREE membership level: www.ado16.info/membership-join ... See MoreSee Less

ado16.info club desk

4 days ago

ADO16 Components – The Torrington Company Limited

Our component series continues with The Torrington Company Limited of Coventry, the British subsidiary of the Torrington Company of the USA – they provided needle roller bearings for the newly launched Morris 1100...

... Coventry Swaging Company Ltd was founded in 1889 in Coventry, UK and began manufacturing small B.A. and Whitworth machine screws. They expanded to included cycle spokes and nipples and later needles and associated parts for sewing machines – this was all very typical of small machine shops of the time in Coventry and by 1938 they were employing more than 100 people.

However, as early as 1924 the Coventry Swaging was already working in association with The Torrington Company of Connecticut, USA. That company would later become The Torrington Company of Maine, a leading producer of a broad line of anti-friction bearings as well as all sorts of fasteners and needles. They were expanding globally and Coventry Swaging became one of the overseas subsidiaries with 1953 seeing a name change to The Torrington Company Limited.

The Torrington Company Limited of Coventry had developed an association with various British car manufacturers so it was no surprise to see them advertise in celebration of the launch of the Morris 1100 in 1962 – indeed as a supplier of needle roller bearings one is inclined to assume they were already supplying the same to the BMC for the A-series engine in the Mini.

You may recall our post at the beginning of the year about James Motor Cycles Limited and the unusual registration number of the Morris 1100 they featured in their advert – well much to our surprise The Torrington Company featured the same car, and we’ve included another image of a Morris 1100 with an almost identical, rarely seen number plate.

With special thanks to Grace’s Guide.

We’re the global umbrella for the ADO16, the BMC/British Leyland 1100/1300 – in well over 60 countries and with a Facebook Group of over 2,850 members! You can join us too; the only ADO16 club with a FREE membership level: www.ado16.info/membership-join ... See MoreSee Less