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BMC ADO17
BMC ADO17 is the model code used by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) for a range of front wheel drive cars in the European 'D' market-segment of larger family cars, manufactured from September 1964 to 1975. The car was initially sold under the Austin marque as the Austin 1800, then by Morris as the Morris 1800, and by Wolseley as the Wolseley 18/85. Later, it was marketed with a 2.2 L engine as the Austin 2200, Morris 2200 and Wolseley Six. Informally, because of the car's exceptional width and overall appearance, these cars became widely known by the nickname ‘Landcrab’.
The 1800 was voted European Car of the Year for 1965.
The Austin 1800 was developed at BMC as a larger follow-up to the successful Mini and Austin 1100 under the ADO17 codename. (ADO was an abbreviation for Austin Drawing Office). Additional badge-engineered Morris 1800 and Wolseley 18/85 variants were launched in 1966 and 1967 respectively to cater for the BMC dealerships selling those marques. The 18/85 name had been used previously, on the Wolseley 18/85 of 1938 to 1948.
The car was unconventional in its appearance in 1964, with its large glasshouse and spacious, minimalist, interior including leather, wood, and chrome features, and an unusual instrument display with ribbon speedometer and green indicator light on the end of the indicator stalk. There was a chrome "umbrella handle" handbrake under the dashboard parcel shelf, and the two front seats met in the middle and could be used, on occasion, as a bench seat. Alec Issigonis and Pininfarina both worked on its exterior. The car's technical internals were also unconventional and ahead of their time, including Hydrolastic suspension and the use of inertia-controlled brake-force distribution by means of a valve which transferred braking force between front and rear axles as a function of sensed deceleration rather than as a function of fluid pressure. An interesting feature was a tail/brake/indicator night dipping system. A resistance circuit was connected in such a way so that when the sidelight circuit was energised, the resistors dimmed the tail/brake/indicator lights so not to blind or dazzle following drivers. The unitary bodyshell was exceptionally stiff, with a torsional rigidity of 18,032 Nm/degree.
Progressive improvement was a feature of most cars in this period, but the number and nature of the changes affecting the early years of the Austin 1800 looked to some as though the car had been introduced with insufficient development. In December 1964, a month after its launch, reclining front seats and the option of an arm rest in the middle of the back seat were added to the specification schedule. A month later, in January 1965, the final drive ratio reverted from the 4.2:1 ratio applied at launch to the 3.88:1 value used in the prototype: this was described as a response to "oil-consumption problems". At the same time, higher gearing and reduced valve clearances reduced the published power output by 2 bhp (1.5 kW), but cured the "valve-crash" reported by some buyers when approaching top speed on one of Britain's recently constructed motorways. The same month also saw the indicator switch modified. The manufacturer quietly replaced the "flexible, flat-section dipstick" which, it was said, had caused inattentive owners to overfill the sump after inserting the dipstick back-to-front so that the word "Oil" could not be seen on it.
Subsequent modifications included changing, repositioning and re-angling the handbrake in October 1965, removing the rear anti-roll bar and rearranging the rear suspension at the end of 1965, at the same time adjusting the steering to fix a problem of tyre scuffing, and fitting stronger engine side covers in January 1966, along with modified engine-mounting rubbers which were "resistant to de-bonding". February 1965 saw water shields fitted to the rear hubs, and the car's steering rattle cured by the judicious fitting of a spacer, while the propensity of early cars to jump out of first and second gears was solved by the fitting of a "synchroniser".
Further improvements followed the launch of the Morris 1800 early in 1966. Gear cables were revamped to deal with "difficult engagement" of first and third gears in cold weather, and the seat mountings were adapted to increase rake in May 1966.
In June 1967, without any fanfare or press releases, a modified version of the 1800 began to arrive at dealers, with repositioned heater controls, a strip of "walnut veneer" on the fascia, and separate bucket seats replacing the former split bench seat at the front. Other criticisms seem to have been quietly dealt with at the same time, including the fitting of more highly geared steering, which needed only 3.75 rather than 4.2 turns between locks, although the modification had applied to cars produced since September 1966 and, in the case of Australian cars, some time before that.
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BMC ADO17
BMC ADO17 is the model code used by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) for a range of front wheel drive cars in the European 'D' market-segment of larger family cars, manufactured from September 1964 to 1975. The car was initially sold under the Austin marque as the Austin 1800, then by Morris as the Morris 1800, and by Wolseley as the Wolseley 18/85. Later, it was marketed with a 2.2 L engine as the Austin 2200, Morris 2200 and Wolseley Six. Informally, because of the car's exceptional width and overall appearance, these cars became widely known by the nickname ‘Landcrab’.
The 1800 was voted European Car of the Year for 1965.
The Austin 1800 was developed at BMC as a larger follow-up to the successful Mini and Austin 1100 under the ADO17 codename. (ADO was an abbreviation for Austin Drawing Office). Additional badge-engineered Morris 1800 and Wolseley 18/85 variants were launched in 1966 and 1967 respectively to cater for the BMC dealerships selling those marques. The 18/85 name had been used previously, on the Wolseley 18/85 of 1938 to 1948.
The car was unconventional in its appearance in 1964, with its large glasshouse and spacious, minimalist, interior including leather, wood, and chrome features, and an unusual instrument display with ribbon speedometer and green indicator light on the end of the indicator stalk. There was a chrome "umbrella handle" handbrake under the dashboard parcel shelf, and the two front seats met in the middle and could be used, on occasion, as a bench seat. Alec Issigonis and Pininfarina both worked on its exterior. The car's technical internals were also unconventional and ahead of their time, including Hydrolastic suspension and the use of inertia-controlled brake-force distribution by means of a valve which transferred braking force between front and rear axles as a function of sensed deceleration rather than as a function of fluid pressure. An interesting feature was a tail/brake/indicator night dipping system. A resistance circuit was connected in such a way so that when the sidelight circuit was energised, the resistors dimmed the tail/brake/indicator lights so not to blind or dazzle following drivers. The unitary bodyshell was exceptionally stiff, with a torsional rigidity of 18,032 Nm/degree.
Progressive improvement was a feature of most cars in this period, but the number and nature of the changes affecting the early years of the Austin 1800 looked to some as though the car had been introduced with insufficient development. In December 1964, a month after its launch, reclining front seats and the option of an arm rest in the middle of the back seat were added to the specification schedule. A month later, in January 1965, the final drive ratio reverted from the 4.2:1 ratio applied at launch to the 3.88:1 value used in the prototype: this was described as a response to "oil-consumption problems". At the same time, higher gearing and reduced valve clearances reduced the published power output by 2 bhp (1.5 kW), but cured the "valve-crash" reported by some buyers when approaching top speed on one of Britain's recently constructed motorways. The same month also saw the indicator switch modified. The manufacturer quietly replaced the "flexible, flat-section dipstick" which, it was said, had caused inattentive owners to overfill the sump after inserting the dipstick back-to-front so that the word "Oil" could not be seen on it.
Subsequent modifications included changing, repositioning and re-angling the handbrake in October 1965, removing the rear anti-roll bar and rearranging the rear suspension at the end of 1965, at the same time adjusting the steering to fix a problem of tyre scuffing, and fitting stronger engine side covers in January 1966, along with modified engine-mounting rubbers which were "resistant to de-bonding". February 1965 saw water shields fitted to the rear hubs, and the car's steering rattle cured by the judicious fitting of a spacer, while the propensity of early cars to jump out of first and second gears was solved by the fitting of a "synchroniser".
Further improvements followed the launch of the Morris 1800 early in 1966. Gear cables were revamped to deal with "difficult engagement" of first and third gears in cold weather, and the seat mountings were adapted to increase rake in May 1966.
In June 1967, without any fanfare or press releases, a modified version of the 1800 began to arrive at dealers, with repositioned heater controls, a strip of "walnut veneer" on the fascia, and separate bucket seats replacing the former split bench seat at the front. Other criticisms seem to have been quietly dealt with at the same time, including the fitting of more highly geared steering, which needed only 3.75 rather than 4.2 turns between locks, although the modification had applied to cars produced since September 1966 and, in the case of Australian cars, some time before that.