Logos - Automobile Industry - VII

MINI



The year 1956 was a time when the British automakers faced a major slump on the car sales on account of the fuel shortage as a resultant of the Suez Crisis, and the rise of the German Bubble cars. To fight off the fall in the business, Leonard Lord, the then Chairman of the British Motor Corporation approached Alec Issigonis to design a four-seater, BMC-powered small car.

This resulted in the first models of Mini which got launched in 1959 under the brands Austin Se7en and Morris Mini-Minor.

(Source: /www.heritagegarage.com)

(Source: /www.heritagegarage.com)

In 1960, John Cooper approached Issigonis with the idea of introducing a high performance variation of the Mini that got rejected, but later in 1961 was agreed upon by George Harriman. Eventually the first Mini Cooper - the Austin Mini Cooper and Morris Mini Cooper - hit the racetracks in 1961.

(Source: /www.heritagegarage.com)

(Source: /www.heritagegarage.com)

(Source: /www.heritagegarage.com)

(Source: /www.heritagegarage.com)

(Source: /www.heritagegarage.com)

The Mini Cooper and Cooper "S" were the sportier versions launched by the company which earned its name as rally cars through the success in Monte Carlo Rally from 1964 to 1967.

(Source: /www.heritagegarage.com)

(Source: /www.heritagegarage.com)

(Source: http://farm4.static.flickr.com)

The success in the motor sport circuit including the Coupe des Dames at the 1962 Monte Carlo Rally led to the creation of a brand name for Mini resulting in Austin Seven tag renamed to Austin Mini.



In 1969 the car came to be known as the "Mini" with the Austin Mini and Morris Mini-Minor identities dropped from its names. This year also saw the introduction of the first Mini logo besides a change in the name of the parent company to British Leyland Motor Corporation. The Leyland badges were sometimes exhibited on the A-panels of the Mini.

The first logo of "Mini"

(Source: www.mini.com)

(Source: /www.heritagegarage.com)

The acquisition of the British Rover Group by BMW in 1994 resulted in BMW becoming the owner of Rover, Land Rover, M G Brands as well as to the rights to Austin and Morris. In 1997 under Frank Stephenson, a new prototype combining the classic features of Mini and the modern designs was launched as MINI at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

The huge losses on Rover led to the sale of the M G Rover and Rover brands in 2000 by BMW. The image as a fashion icon created by the car induced BMW to retain the rights to the new MINI which got launched in the year 2001.


The last Mini, a red Cooper Sport which was built in Oct, 2000 was handed out to the British Motor Heritage Trust in Dec, the same year.

Though larger and heavier than the classic Mini, the MINI continues to move through the path of success of Mini.

Some of the Mini badges over the years

(Source: /www.heritagegarage.com)

(Source: /www.heritagegarage.com)

(Source: /www.heritagegarage.com)

(Source: http://farm1.static.flickr.com)

(Source: http://farm1.static.flickr.com)

Triumph

(Source: www.wikipedia.org)

A car that rocked the United Kingdom during a point of time, and now hardly seen on the roads, Triumph was set up by Siegfried Bettmann & Moritz Schulte under the name of Bettmann & Co. The company started its operations as a bicycle manufacturer in 1885. In the year 1897, Bettmann & Co. was renamed as the Triumph Cycle Co. Ltd.

Triumph Cycle Co. Ltd

(Source: www.sorenwinslow.com)


(Source: www.scripophily.net)

Triumph shifted its business from bicycle manufacturing to the production of motorcycles by 1902.

Logo of Triumph Motor Cycles

(Source: www.sorenwinslow.com)

Triumph's first entry into the car production was made after the acquisition of the assets of Dawson Car Company under the advice of Claude Holbrook. The Triumph 10/20 was the first car manufactured from 1923 to 1926 by the company which was designed by Arthur Alderson who was aided by Alan Lea and Arthur Sykes, employed by Lea Francis wherein the company paid them royalty for every car manufactured.

The company renamed itself as the Triumph Motor Company in the year 1930.

Logo of Triumph Motor

(Source: www.sorenwinslow.com)

The year 1936 saw an attempt by the company to sell off Triumph bicycle and motorcycle divisions to revive the financially struggling company. The motorcycle business was bought by Jack Sangster leading to the rise of Triumph Engineering Co. Ltd.

Despite winning at the Northern Ireland racing competitions and being a highly ranked British car, the financial turmoil led to the purchase of the company by T.W.Ward. However, the bombing of the Priory Street factory during the World War II in 1940 left the company in ruin.

1944 saw a change in the ownership when the Standard Motor Company took over whatever that was remaining of the company to start a subsidiary in the name 'Triumph Motor Co. (1945) Ltd".

(Source: www.users.bigpond.com)

The sports cars launched around the 1950s portrayed the emblem of Triumph, while the saloons pictured the Standard logo. This was later modified and in 1959 the cars carried the name Standard-Triumph.

(Source: www.commons.wikimedia.org)

The year 1960 saw a change in the ownership when Leyland Motors Ltd bought the company, later renaming it to British Leyland Motor Corporation in 1968.

Triumph Acclaim launched in 1981 in a joint venture with Honda is the last car manufactured under Triumph. In 1984, Triumph name disappeared when Acclaim was replaced by Rover 200, which was a rebadged version of Honda Civic.

When BMW acquired Rover Group in 1994, it became the owner of the Triumph marque. The Standard marque is, however, the property of the British Motor Heritage who has the license to use the Triumph marque where it involves the sale of the spares and support of the existing Triumph cars.