Alec Issigonis, the designer of the Morris Minor, was tempted back to BMC where he was asked to design a ‘proper’ small car. He believed in front wheel drive and to get an existing engine into the smallest possible four seater he took the unusual step of turning it sideways. There were originally Austin and Morris versions of the new car (the Austin Se7en and the Morris Mini Minor) but by 1962 the Austin version had become the Mini and by 1969 the dual badging had been dropped and all cars were simply called the Mini. It took some time for the design to catch on and the greatest annual production was not seen until more than ten years after its launch, but by 1965 1 million had been produced and that figure is now well past the 5 million mark.

This item is also available PAINTED ref X11 , see our ebay shop N Painted models section.

We produce in excess of 420 different kits for N Gauge of which more than 100 are available handpainted and finished. For full details please browse our ebay shop. You can access this by clicking on the appropriate category link which is found on the left hand side of this listing.