The BMC ADO16 1100 Is A 60s British Family Favourite! (1970 Vanden Plas Princess 1300 Road Test)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 มิ.ย. 2023
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Tasked with creating a bigger Mini, aimed at families, Alec Issigonis created the ADO16 1100. Utilising Hydrolastic suspension to combine comfort and cornering, transverse engine packaging for maximum interior space, gorgeous Pininfarina styling and every badge under the BMC umbrella to offer an affordable Austin or Morris, sporty MG, or upmarket Riley, Wolseley and Vanden Plas variants, the ADO16 proved an enormous success, quickly becoming Britain's best-selling car in the 1960s. With the 1100/1300 celebrating 60 years in 2023, Joe decided to take a luxurious Vanden Plas Princess for a drive to see how it stacks up today, and whether it offers the 'big Mini' experience...
Road tests sponsored by CAARParts: www.caarparts.co.uk/
Thanks to WB & Sons for loan of this car: wbandsons.com/
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Probably the best car ever made. I bought an MG1100 the other day, this is my fourth one. Just brilliant cars. Thank you.
What a gorgeous automobile!
I’ve had 3 ADO 16’s over the years. A ‘71 Austin 1300 in 1973, a Riley 1300 M2 in the late ‘80’s and finally a Wolseley 1300 Mk2 in the early 90’s. Enjoyed all of them as comfortable reliable small cars.
My dad bought a new Austin America. We lived in Vancouver. It was a 1300 and yes, it had hydrolasric suspension
My dad's first brand new car (in New South Wales Australia) was a black manual Morris 1100. As a kid interested in cars, I thought the hydrolastic suspension was amazing. I remember dad did all the servicing himself. Mum and dad, myself, and my two younger brothers and younger sister went on many picnics and family holidays in the "Black Beauty" as we called her! She even towed a collapsible camper trailer on many of them!
I used the ADO16 as donor cars for hotting up Minis in the seventies when there were scrapyards full of rusty old junkers. Now I would quite like a 1300GT or Riley version. Sorry, I contributed to the demise of several back in the day. I did keep a few Minis going though.
If only they made such beautiful little cars like this these days! We all had a mini then an 1100 or 1300 in my case! How on Earth did we ever let the BMC disappear? Britain made the best cars in the world then and should still be a world beater! 🙁
Lovely cars, I had a morris 1100 in Perth Western Oz in 1970. With 3 large friends we would go to Kalgoorlie for the weekend. It never let me down.
I've never particularly though about them, but like a lot of the videos you make, I'd actually consider buying one now.
Glad we've brought you round, Mark!
Lovely jubbly. Lovely example. I have a Fawn Brown Austin 3 L, bet it is the same colour as this. Love anything Issignosis had a hand in although he apparently distanced himself from the 3 L. My first two cars were 1100s. They were very popular in Australia too.
Lucky you - I still think the Austin 3-Litre is one of the most handsome cars ever, with a real presence on the road.
You didn't mention the 1300 GT variant which I owned in the 70s and would love to own one again or the VDP
I thought hydro elastic suspension was designed by Alex Moulton? He worked with Issigonis on the design.
Yes, Alex Moulton was the engineer behind the Hydrolastic suspension, and also its successor system known as Hydragas.
Moulton's first system used on the Mini was rubber cones in compression. I learned to drive in an early Mini, and later had a 1963 Moulton bicycle with rubber suspension.
Thanks for that Joe, having had 2 ADO16’s in the last 20yrs, both as daily drivers I fully agree with all you said, it’s a delightful, fun, practical car with loads of charm, it’s exactly that, a bigger Mini, they have all the characteristics of their baby brothers.
They are very reliable, but more so if you protect the distributor from incoming damp and rust proof the underside as they rot for fun!
And if your budget won’t let you stretch to todays Classic Mini prices, the ADO16 is an excellent 2nd choice!
Absolutely brilliant cars.
they were ok then
The basic 1100 was as good as you could get in it`s day for the small family car. My dad, R.I.P. bought my older sister a Riley ( second hand/third hand owned) for her when she got her driving licence back in the seventees. I remember the wooden dash board with chromed rimmed dials with rev counter and three spoked classic metel leather covered steering wheel was both very posh and sporty indeed! I think my dad spent some time with the bonnet opened on that one! The joys of motoring as he used to say! Happy days.
BMC at its best really, they had a stylish, modern design packed with cutting edge tech, they had the money to improve it over its lifetime and it didn't outstay its welcome so it went out in a blaze of glory.
Surely BMC's best!
What an interior! beautiful
It really is!
If only they made the ADO16 as rust resistant as the Allegro, but updated the style to the same elegance, with decent engines. Imagine a Pininfarina designed VP or Riley Kestrel 1750!
Cool little car, engineering of the time was very advanced for a little family car, love that interior 😀
It sure is!
@@ClassicsWorldUK I still remember looking under my 1100 for leaks. it never worked as well as intended. Not as good as Citroen suspension . At least one of these was on 'Bangers & Cash' Derek pointed out the various faults with the model. Nice to drive and popular in the 70s
Great video, without doubt the zenith for BMC family cars. The 1300GT is my personal favourite. Unfortunately BL never managed to convincingly answer the 'How do you follow the ADO16?' question, which played a major part in the downfall of the company. Had they managed to again crack this critical market segment with the AD016's successors things might have turned out differently.
They should have stuck with the ADO16 but made it into a hatchback with folding rear seats.
My Dad had the 1300 GT - white with black Everflex roof + Rostyle wheels. Smashing car!
All the Austin 1100 range is EASY to fall in love with. I am a huge fan of the 1100 + vanden plus ones. MG, too. ❤
Brilliant car to drive.
Absolutely!
Thank you! I love it, so charming.
They also used it as the car in the Highway Code. For such an innovative design, it got a reputation for being a car your Granny would drive...
I love the ADO 16 range. My favorite is totally the VDP auto.
excellent! well researched and informative, Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Love this channel! Greetings from southern Spain.
Thanks for watching! 😁
You’re lucky, they let you lose in that thing. Anyway, I’m glad they did, super awesome video.
Thanks for watching!
One of the last world beating British cars, I love these!
A lovely car. 😊
I had a MKII 1300 Morris in 84.. Lovely comfy car. I was in the Army at the time.. i leant it to my brother in law and he bloody ragged it.. and ended up knackering it... sad time.. bloody hooligan..
My great friend had one of these in the 60's. C licence plate. Still have the photos. Thought the silouhette looked more like the Austin A40 Farina.
A car 20 years ahead of it's time when launched in 62, the best selling car in the UK for most of the 12 years it was on sale, and loved by the public. Yet it never received a reskin during it's lifetime. A reskin in the early 70s with the option of an hatchback and better rust proofing would have seen this technical marvel on sale until the 80s
If only BL had the budget!
@@ClassicsWorldUK I would imagine it would be cheaper than developing the Allegro. Not that I have a problem with the Allegro I think it was doomed even before it was conceived due to the popularity of the 1100, in much the same way the XJS was for been the car that replaced the E type
Very neat little cars. They were sold here as the Austin America. They were never common, though. Import duties meant they were fighting for sales well above their class due to the retail price at a time when "BIGGER" really was perceived as better. On top of that, the small engines really did turn many people off these cars. Get a family of 4 plus the dog and add luggage, and the weight really shot up, especially when considered as a percentage of the kerb weight of the car. While the 1300 had decent performance with just the driver, add the family and luggage for a vacation and weight distribution changed hugely, which did affect handling, but the weight sapped the performance and increased petrol consumption. Given that, this was not a car suited to purpose here, where distances are truly vast. Back in the 60s, there were stretches of the TransCanada Highway where the distance between fuel stations could be 250 miles or more, and that was pushing range dangerously.
Lovely little car good video 🚘🚙🚗⭐️⭐️⭐️👍👍👍👍👍👍
I’m afraid much of the ADO16’s unfounded reputation for being unreliable was down to ‘that episode’ of Fawlty Towers 🙁
I don't remember the episode in Faulty Towers. But was it not also used in the 1980's film Clockwise also starring John Cleese?
I have been thinking of buying one. I might just make it happen soon.
Do it!
@@ClassicsWorldUK Probably because I've been looking on line at them TH-cam popped your video up. I have now subscribed.
Brilliant cars.
I remember Basil Fawlty giving his "A damn good thrashing" with a branch and shouting expletives at it for breaking down on Gourmet night.
Fun video and cute little car!
It really is!
What a little beauty (:
I put an ADO16 restored MG1300 engine into a Mini, with only a just slightly hotter AEG 731 camshaft change. Could it shift. Knocked spots over a standard Mini Cooper S.
🤔And very reliable in their day .No modern electronics to let you down, and put you on the side of the road, waiting for an AA track to come to your rescue !....
Absolutely, very DIY friendly, I remember my Wolseley 1300 starting to sputter and cut out in heavy rain, so I just rolled to a safe spot, popped the bonnet, took off the dizzie cap, dried it out and hey presto she was up and running and we got on our way.
Austin Allegro "chocolate brown" even ting tong wasnt impressed
Cute car!😍😍
Have you seen the " custom " Australian 1100 built by a teacher as a class project ?
It's a pity we never go the Australian Morris Nomad hatchback version.
That's quite something!
Have you seen the HubNut Nomad review?
@@moochincrawdad Yes, And my neighbour had one when I lived in Melbourne in the 1970s - Did BMC think it might steal sales from the Maxi perhaps?
@@daviddunmore7076 I wouldn't put it past them, I heard the same thing about the Leyland Princess as well.
Fetch the 60s back peace fun no greed everybody happy family life
... and great music festivals. Woodstock, Hyde Park, Isle of Wight, did them all!
What brands offered 3 doors Estate?
Nice car. ❤
I think it was justAustin and Morris brands to offer the estate or countryman bodied cars.
Ford Escort estates were three-door right up to the Mk3, when 5-door was introduced as an option.
@@MakerfieldConsort
Yes, I know, but I was talking about ADO 16.
Thank you!
@@FcoDguez Sorry - thought you were asking a general question.
To my knowledge only the Austin and Morris variants.
@@MakerfieldConsort
Three doors Estates are beautiful in general.
Thank you again! 👍🏻
An excellent luxury small car. Shame it was replaced by the Allegro!
Yes, what about the CV joints, cumbersome gear change, no hatchback therefore a useless boot, and awful corrosion problems?
All of which the Japanese addressed.
Worked on them in the Mid 70s
How did you find it?
Worked in a BL dealership so had the tools easy to work on 👍
At least one of these has appeared on 'Bangers & Cash' the Vanden Plas version. Derek went through the pros & cons of these cars. At one point in the 70s, the most popular family car in England . My father passed one on to me . I passed my test in it. At the time it was a good car, the better alternatives would have been more costly European imports. The Hydrolastic suspension never worked as well as intended, not as good as the Citroen DS system, and boot space was limited, fuel consumption for the Vanden Plas 1300 which was heavier than the standard AD016 , was 30 to 35 mpg . I would never consider driving one now. You cant be too sentimental about cars ..
Nonsense the Hydrolastic suspension was excellent, better than both the previous rubber cones and the later hydragas. Obviously you can't compare hydrolastic with the pumped Citroen system. The Vanden plas was only 40lbs heavier, most of that being sound deadening materials.
@@dreamdiction Hydrolastic was a green liquid if I remember right. It could leak in places but could be pumped up but with 4 large adults would bottom out. I saw it. BMC and later BL abandoned the idea in later cars. They were nice to drive. The VP as you say had extra sound insulation and thicker seats...
For goodness sake - it's not a Vanden Plassssssssss. It's a Vanden Plarr/Plah or even Plaz (as some would have it) - however you want to spell it phonetically, it's from the original Belgium Coach Building company, not from the Barnsley Wheeltappers & Shunters scrapyard. I remember when these were new and they weren't pronounced as though they were named after someone's pet whippet. Excuse me whilst I go and order a Pit-zer and a Latty. Your right though - lovely car, particularly in the burgundy red.
You did not mention they rusted and there was an estate version
Every 60s car rusted.
Has Joe killed off all the other presenters? Or have they just got bored and buggered off?😂😂😂
Various logistics means it's often difficult for other members of the team to park magazine commitments for filming. Joe has to be there to film regardless, but rest assured Phil, Jeff, Paul and Jack are still very much here!
You could stand next to it and watch it rust away.
This is what Cheech and Chong would have driven if they were British.
Vanden Plaaaa, not Plas. 🙃
It's a Flemish word, several sources have confirmed you do in fact pronounce the 's' :)
@@ClassicsWorldUK
But BMC/BL salespeople were told by HQ to say Plaaaa. Class thing reasons I suppose. 😁👍
It's pronounced Vahnden Plahss, not Vanden Plaaaa.
It's pronounced Vanden Plaas.
Hmmm, now what I can say on this subject is that back in the day you'd have been thought an idiot for pronouncing the s in Plas, as for those revisionist types, Flemish is it? Oh jolly good, now how do you pronounce Volkswagen? That's a German word by the way... Just saying...
I bought the US version. I kept it for 6 months. It was a disaster of a car. There were so many faults and problems many the result poor design and lack of quality control. I guess the British had low expectations from their domestic cars. Sad.
It must be the car with the worst proportions ever😂
You might be in the minority to say that! ;)
The 17 was actually nicknamed 'Landcrab' because of the undeniably unusual proportions.
That was actually the ADO67 1800, see the video on our channel! ;)
Have you never seen the Ford Scorpio?