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Everyone has their own ideas on how to improve or replace the Classic Mini during the 60-70s, yet what many people might not know is that there were many unsuccessful attempts to improve or replace the Mini which for one reason or another never entered production.

Here are the known possible ways the Mini could have been improved or replaced during the 1960-1970s (Credit: ARONLINE and Austin Memories):

1) BMC / Issigonis 9X - The 9X addressed many of the engineering flaws in Issigonis' original design- namely its complexity, its harsh ride and its poor mechanical refinement caused by the gearbox-in-sump layout. The final fully engineered prototype had a shorter wheelbase than the Mini but was three inches shorter overall. It was also slightly wider and offered significantly more interior space plus a hatchback body. The separate subframes of the Mini were removed and the body frame construction greatly simplified- the 9X required less than half the number of individual parts to build than a Mini. - http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/concepts/concepts-and-prototypes/concepts-bmc-9x/

2) Barrel Car – Developed in parallel with the Issigonis 9X and featuring an 84-inch wheelbase, as with the 9X the idea was to improve on the Mini’s already superlative space efficiency, whilst also being cheaper and less labour intensive to produce. - http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/con...otypes/supermini-projects-a-new-mini-1968-74/

3) “Pininfarina Mini” – Essentially a Mini-based car with a body inspired by the Pininfarina 1100 / Pininfarina 1800 concepts whose styling would later appear on the Citroen GS and Citroen CX. - http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/blogs/blog-mystery-pininfarina-mini/

4) Mini Clubman Hatchback – Part of the ADO20 project that would later become the Mini Clubman, ultimately the production version never featured a hatchback since BL believed at the time that hatchbacks were not the future. Perhaps the Mini Clubman would be more fondly remember if it was released as a hatchback. - http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/cars/mini-classic/archive-mini-clubman-takes-shape/

5) ADO74 – A project led by Triumph’s Harry Webster who had little experience packaging a small car resulting in ADO74 drifting without direction and growing from a Mini replacement into an near-Allegro sized car with countless styling proposals that none of the management were happy with. - http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/concepts/concepts-and-prototypes/supermini-projects-ado74/

6) ADO16-based Supermini – A Photoshop (found online) of a Supermini based on a shortened ADO16-platform rather than a real project that still has some merit as a cost-effective Mini Replacement. - http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a261/ErnstBlofeld/ado16spain_045.jpg
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