ADO74 supermini project
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One project, many faces: a wide variety of styling exercises were produced before ADO74 was cancelled in 1973, as British Leyland could not raise the £130m needed to produce it.

The project suffered from having indecisive leadership – it was led by Harry Webster, but because he had worked previously at Triumph, he had little experience of packaging a small car. As a result, the project drifted, directionless: in short time, ADO74 grew from being a Mini replacement into something rather larger. Indecisiveness over the styling also resulted in many proposals being produced, none of which BLMC management were entirely happy with.

This gallery demonstrates this more graphically than mere words ever could – and the car’s unprecedented growth is most evident when one compares the first packaging diagram with Harris Mann’s final incarnation.

These outline drawings date from the very early stages of the project. The configuration of the K-series engine and its 72 degree backwards slant is very obvious in the lower diagram, although it has to be said that the passenger accommodation looks decidedly suspect.

It is important to produce a stylish car when competing in the image-conscious supermini market. This frontal proposal might have been quite bold-looking, but was certainly neither stylish nor aerodynamic. Note the hint of Leyland P76 about the shape of the indicators.

One of several ADO74 prototypes that were evaluated at Longbridge during 1972: this smooth looking proposal was not at all derivative of the contemporary opposition. The most noteworthy point of this design is the skillfully integrated bumpers – whether these would have made it into production on such an inexpensive car, mooted for launch in the mid-Seventies, is open to debate. In the version of this car shown below, its bumpers appear to have been painted to match the body colour - an even more expensive option in production terms. Also, note the rather “American-esque” ADO73 Marina facelift proposal in the background.

Another effort from the dipped window-line, bulbous school of thought, with more than a hint of the later Fiat Ritmo about the front. One possible indicator of “project drift” is the plethora of wildly differing styling sketches on the wall behind.

Arguably the best in-house effort, being rather reminiscent of the Princess.

Harry Webster commissioned Michelotti to produce a version of the car – this smart and stylish proposal was the result.

Smooth and rather utilitarian in style - did it have the character to succeed on the marketplace? It is now obvious that there were two schools of thought – the bulbous, rather featureless look incorporating a dipped window-line, and the later Harris Mann “Wedge” look (see pictures below).

This Harris Mann sketch looks rather better than the full-size models which resulted (see below), providing an intersting parallel with the Allegro's transition from paper to clay. The smoothly-integrated detailing on this car would probably have been too expensive to achieve in production.

This version is fairly close to Mann's sketch, but those round headlamps only serve to empahsise the car's passing resemblance to American Motors' AMC Pacer Wagon.

Possibly the worst-looking ADO74 proposal, one has to wonder what Harris Mann was thinking of to allow this monstrosity to make it to full-size. Next!

Classic Harris Mann – look at the side feature line, which plunged from high at the rear to lower at the front. This styling trick had already been used on the yet-to-be-launched ADO71 with some success.

A little more work on the “Wedge” theme resulted in this, the three door hatchback version of the Triumph TR7. In all seriousness, this Harris Mann creation is rather stylish, although the car’s desirability on the marketplace would have been rather dependent on that of the TR7. (The badge on the side of this car reads "Mini 1300")

Copyright © 2002 Keith Adams