> Date: Sun, 4 Feb 90 17:05:04 EST
> From: yale!harvard!mit-eddie!vax.ftp.com!mason (Nark Mason)
>
> I met a dude recently who has a austin mini (no idea what year or engine)
> with no interior, and was given a car he can only describe as being and
> MG and looking like an austin america. Supposedly both of them run. He
> says the 2 cars chare the same drivetrain and interior. He was going to
> take the interior out of the MG and put it into the austin, but he's moving
> to colorado in march and has another project that will take all of his
> time til them, so he's offered them to me, $500 was a rough price he gave,
> we can probably haggle. I've seen the mini, sure enough it's got no interior
> and needs a paint job, haven't seen the MG though I'm curious. Someone Else
> said it's probably an MG 1100. Does anyone out there know what this MG
> might be, and is it worth having? I've always thought the mini's were
> the *cutest* little things, though I'm not sure if I'd want to drive one.\
> But who can turn down a couple of cute (or ugly) british cars?
Me Dad in England used to have a Morris 1100, a "J" reg (1970-71). Of course,
there was a duplicate Austin 1100 version. And British Leyland back then had
to have a "sporting" version. So they beefed up the suspension, tuned up
the engine, pryed off the Morris/Austin badge and glued on an MG badge, hence
the MG 1100 was born. I'm sure they did a little bit more to it, but that
was basically it. I never heard of the Austin America until I came over here
nearly 10 years ago. A few years later I saw a photo-ad for one and I
immediately recognised it as a Morris/Austin 1100. My guess is that the
Austin America is not the MG variant though.
Me Dad's car drove very nicely. I enjoyed the oversized steering wheel.
It was pretty peppy, but by today's standards it would probably be considered
slow (I'm guessing a 0-60 time of 15 or 16 seconds). If I remember
correctly (it's been over 10 years since I drove it) it had a soft suspension.
My lasting impression was that the steering wheel was a little off centre
for the driver, off to the left (towards the passenger seat!) a bit. I
felt that I had to sit turned to the left a smidgeon to drive it. Perhaps
it was just me.
Hmmm, that is interesting to say that the 1100 and a Mini share the same
driveline and interior. I wouldn't know about the driveline, except that
it must be pretty much similar. Parts of the interior could be swapped, I
suppose. The front seats maybe? The rear seats in the 1100 would probably
be too wide. The dash on the 1100 is definitely different. Me Dad's Morris
had one of those ugly bar type speedometers instead of the much preferred
dial or rotary type. Of course, the Mini didn't have much of a dash or
parcel shelf/glove box anyway.
Anyway, between the two cars, I'd choose the Mini any day. If the Austin
America is a good runner, probably you should keep it in driveable condition
and invest in new or used interior parts for the Mini. There appear to be
many places that specialise in Mini parts. But finding parts for an
Austin America may not be all that easy! This way you could have two
driveable cars at a reasonable price.
Garry Archer Esq. {noao, yale, uunet}!hsi!archer -OR- archer@hsi.com
Health Systems International, New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.A.
"An Englishman never enjoys himself, except for a noble purpose." - A.P.Herbert
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