The Austin/Morris 1800 was a saloon car built by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) from September 1964 to 1975 and colloquially known as the "Landcrab". The 1800 was voted European Car of the Year for 1965.
It was developed at BMC as the large-car follow-up to the successful Mini and Austin 1100 under the ADO17 codename.
The car was unconventional in its appearance in 1964, with its large glasshouse and spacious, minimalist interior. Both Alec Issigonis and Pininfarina worked on its exterior. The technology "under the skin" was also unconventional and ahead of its time, including Hydrolastic suspension and an early example of anti-lock brakes, in the form of a valve which transferred braking force between front and rear axles when one set of wheels began to lock up. The bodyshell was exceptionally stiff, featuring greater structural rigidity than many modern cars in the present day.
A Morris 1800 version followed soon after the Austin one, with the badge-engineered Wolseley 18/85 launching in 1967.
In 1969, the doors from the 1800 were used on the bodyshell of the otherwise new Austin Maxi.
It spawned numerous models. The Australian Austin Kimberley, Austin Tasman and Morris Tasman (the last offered in New Zealand) X6 models of 1970 were based on the 1800 platform and retained the same doors, albeit with some changes. These cars had a 2.2 L straight-six engine, which eventually made it into the British ADO17s in 1972. The British six-cylinder models were known as the Austin 2200, Morris 2200 and Wolseley Six. The same doors even appeared on the very upmarket Austin 3-Litre of 1967 and, at prototype stage, Bentleys and Rolls-Royces. A version unique to Australia was a pickup variant, sold from 1968 to 1971.
The 1800 and 2200 were not sales successes. In 1975, all three models were replaced by the wedge-shaped ADO71, or 18-22 series, which bore the same names at Austin and Morris (1800 and 2200), but the Wolseley variant had, officially, no model name. Eventually, all three became the Leyland Princess.
|
