Morris Mini-Minor

S E A T S A N D S T E E R I N G W H E E L

226

morris mini-minor

Morris Mini-Minor - 226

page last updated: 05 October 2007

Another keystone of the Sixties Corgi range - the BMC Mini. There was the basic Morris (like this one), the Austin and all the Cooper variants, never mind the Pop-Art ones and Wicker jobs, this one must have paid for its self many times over. I don't have a really early flat wheel model, the lilac one on the right is from the early/mid sixties with the turned wheels. The dark red and pale blue ones are later releases with cast wheels.

The re-photo project has revealed to me that these toys are not the same. There are two very distinct castings. The pictures are in sets of three columns, in each set the two on the left (dark red and battered pale blue) are different to the one on the right (lilac). Cast hubs; new - spun hubs - old. This is genuinely the first time I've spotted this in nearly 50 years of familiarity with Corgi Minis. The early casting has a thinner C pillar and a more prominent 'bum'. The newer one has a horizontal ridge in the casting on the front wing and more pointed indicator lamps. In fact they are completely differently modelled toys, every panel and window aperture is different. The one thing they have in common is that in neither case did they get the back end right.

There appear to be three 'families' of the saloon casting. My early 226, my Austin Seven, Competition models, Wicker and 1965 Monte Carlo are all similar, given that the Austin grille and jewelled lights drive their own differences. The ones with six jewels are later casting which is slightly wider and has a taller windscreen, they also have rally front seats and recovery gear where the back seats should be. The later 226's and the 'civilian' Whizzwheels are also similar, except for the flares on the wheel arches. Thirteen models in my collection which appear on the surface to be the same all have their own characteristics.

Looking at my collection the early Morris Mini and Austin 7, the Competition models, the Wicker Mini and the first Monte Carlo mini are on the old casting. The cast wheel models, later Monte Carlos, Sun Rally and Whizzwheels models are on the new one. I wonder why they changed it. Obviously the Magnifique was a newly modelled car and to be fair it was the Mini Mk2 which was a different car, the vans and Countryman were new models too - bigger slightly. Add to this the Austin/Morris grille differences early on and the flared arches on the Whizzwheels models and you get a lot of different castings on this apparently homogenous set of model cars.

The picture at the bottom is one of Chris Davidson's and a fantastic rarity. It is a 'Jensens' model. One of a batch made for a department store in Denmark. These make hens teeth look common. It is super-rare and super-valuable. When Chris sent me the picture I looked around the internet and saw one for sale on a dealer's site. It had the highest price tag of any Corgi I have ever seen. It was worth more than six times its own weight in gold, seriously.

Over on the right I've snapped the three versions of 226 and all my Minis, all 31 of them. Besides loads of Corgis there are a smattering of Dinkys and a lone Vanguard.