Bmc Presents Wizardry On Wheels Reel 3 (1961)

Reel 3.
01:10:21 Various shots of the assembly line Men move Mini chassis in place, wheels are added to a Mini as it moves along. The Morris emblem is attached to the bonnet and seats are fitted. High angle shot of the production line. Man climbs into white Mini and drives it off the production line.
01:11:26 More testing - windscreen wipers, lights, clutch all tested. Final alignments are made. Headlights are focussed. Minis are driven out of the factory. "Here's your car, ready for the road".
01:12:29 Group of pressmen and motoring correspondents are assembled outside the Morris plant. Press releases are handed out and badges pinned on. C/U of engine of the car. Some of the men are named: foreign correspondents Paul Frere, Robert Braunschweg, Werner Kroll, Bernard Cahier and British correspondents like Harold Nockhold, Maurice Smith, Basil Cardew, Tommy Wisdom. Some of the men are seen examining the cars. Some of the men take notes. They then take the Minis for a drive. Point of view shots showing Minis everywhere!
01:13:47 The press hail the Mini as a great success. Sequence intercuts newspaper headlines with shots of the cars being driven. Majestic music accompanies this celebratory sequence. Cars are positively pouring off the production line.
01:14:18 We see the family featured earlier standing at the bus stop. This time they are picked up by a Mini. Father isn't sure if they will get all the luggage in. Nice sequence showing how much can be squeezed into the car - suitcases, chairs, radios, books etc.
01:15:40 The family set off on their holiday in the Mini. We see the car being driven down a suburban street. C/U of father driving. He laughs. He is reminding them of the days before the Mini Minor came into their lives. Shot of them waiting at the bus stop is repeated. Various shots of mother and the two kids sitting in the back. Plenty of room!
01:16:09 Various shots of London through the front windscreen - Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square (?). C/Us of the dashboard, foot pedals and speedometer. L/S of Big Ben with Mini driving towards camera. Canterbury, Kent - city walls. Various shots of the car speeding along the Dover Road and arriving at the port. Various shots of Port officials and the Mini boarding a cross channel ferry. "You and your Mini Minor are bound for fresh and exciting new horizons." Various shots of the ferry leaving Dover.
01:17:42 Great credit shot of a model Mini beside a small trophy. "Produced by Associated British-Pathe for the Nuffield Organization." Voiceover states: "This car was awarded the Dewar Trophy in 1960 for most outstanding British technical achievement in Automobile Design. "The End".
Commentary spoken by David de Keyser.
There may have been two different versions of this film. Documentation file exists - shotlist and commentary. May be for this version but I have a feeling that it may be for a different (possibly longer) version.
Colour is very faded on this print.
Colour is very faded on this print.
FILM ID:1257.02
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[@mikeygti8930]

544 GWL is still on the road! Great to see it on this reel 60 odd years ago!

[@NERGYStudios]

The Mini, the original Corolla and of course the Beetle are unmatched for their impact on global motoring.

[@deanosaur808]

Austin Allegro too 😅😅🤣

[@MistahJigglah]

Except North America. The post war tax pump economy was too damned strong. The Mini couldn't compete with the Ford Falcon for a "compact" family car on massive American roads, and anyone who'd be interested in a Mini just bought a VW (hippies)

[@MistahJigglah]

Then safety regulations drove it completely from the market

[@darcyoneill9377]

This Pathé Film is wonderful on multiple levels by now. And of course the Morris Mini Minor... !

[@crumplezone1]

When motoring was fun and every day seemed be a sunny one :)

[@duddydjaya1004]

Great job, love those minies. Had a station wagon,van model in 1965...real good driving

[@danielhanney3326]

I had the little Mini Countryman as well..in Lime green colour 😆

[@shivamraizada870]

Love the way u show ...old memories ... beautiful

[@freddieparrydrums]

Agreed

[@Roger.Coleman1949]

Probably the most aesthetically perfect production car of all time,a wonderful era of optimism, for all it faults in old age like the dreaded rust, these Mark 1s would all be worth a fortune today, the BMW pastiche is NOT a Mini, it is a largish car and very good, but it will never have the appeal of the original masterpiece,it will date and be replaced, unlike the original car which will remain ' timeless ' and ' classless '.

[@johnbaker4915]

I know. I bought a Mk1 1962 and am currently in the process of refurbishing it. Its a hoot to drive and gets so many comments. Its not the quickest, its not the most glamorous, its not the most expensive, but its certainly very interesting and everyone loves an old mini.

[@Roger.Coleman1949]

@@johnbaker4915 Have fun with it John.I'm amazed how long ago I wrote this but last year , managed to buy a ' 61 local Austin Seven , unused and out of sight since 1974 - 37,000miles !.It is incredibly well preserved , totally original paint and interior with negligible rust in spots but nothing serious , engine unseized .It is being conserved only , everything being reconditioned where necessary rather than replace , but the engine left over 45 years with replaced engine oil and antifreeze that never leaked .Hope to have her back on the road this summer - cannot wait !.

[@danielhanney3326]

" Era of Optimism "..Yes, that's how I would describe it too.

[@oskarbud525]

That trophy at the end must have been gigantic.

[@MrRobster1234]

4:19, A radio on the back parcel shelf would kill you if you got into a crash, but what did we know then? My friend fell out of the back door of a '55 Ford twice. He's still reasonably normal.

[@darcyoneill9377]

(8 years on... ) I fell out the side located (then) Emergency door on a school bus when I was 9 in 1961. Ah, 'ye olde days'!

[@deanosaur808]

One crash in that car could give you Radiohead 😅 I'm still picking up pirate radio stations after my little accident 😛🤣

[@alro2434]

NO ONE reasonably normal falls out once let alone twice!

[@TheNeonAngel]

Omg, when i was a teen back in the 90s my dad got an old rusted morris minor and did it all up and painted it. I loved riding in it because people would always stare. It was sad when he finally sold it

[@freddieparrydrums]

Hope it’s still around!

[@deanosaur808]

@freddieparrydrums there is a 95% chance that it still survives today. Very few minors have disappeared in the last 35 years 🥳

[@rameshbhattacharjee4374]

The Mini Was Priced Below It's Cost Of Production, BMC Was Losing 30 Pounds For Each Mini It Sold, It Was Affordable For Even The Working Classes, Remember There Was Hire Purchase By 1961, It Was Like Buying A Honda Cub In Malaysia

[@deanosaur808]

They wasn't losing anything! Ford were wrong!

[@christopherhulse8385]

Must have been a well to do family, most people couldn't afford a brand new car in 1961, let alone going to the continent in one.

[@danielhanney3326]

Didn't you see the posh house they came out of...and Dad looks more like Grandfather 🤣

[@enedenedubedene4811]

Auf jeden Fall hatten im Mini vier erwachsene Personen bequemer Platz als in einem VW Käfer.😍😍😍😍👍👍👍👍👍 Viele Grüße aus Germany

[@MrRaulstrnad]

the mini minor a true legend

[@PLuMUK54]

I imagined them going to Italy, then all I could think was "you were only supposed to blow the b***** doors off".

[@stephenthorpe3321]

Had 20 minis in the 60s all.vairants

[@logotrikes]

No seatbelts, but mum's hatbox is a must....

[@alro2434]

It had provisions/threaded mounts for seat belts way before any other car in the early 60's.

[@stephenthorpe3321]

In the 60s and early 70s had all types of mini from pick up to Cooper to Clubman and estate spent every weekend working on them and tuning them (never when that fast) eventually bought new Metro glutton for punishment then along came a Honda at last could just drive a car that never when wrong!

[@deanosaur808]

I can never understand why people come here just to write negative comments 🙄 I'd rather have a Mini over a Corolla. How boring your life must be now 🤣

[@deanosaur808]

Honda* Corolla on my mind lol

[@Jackthesmilingblack]

Seat belts? Who needs um!

[@spiderwebb4983]

Not me in my '68 Triumph, my everyday car as it's the only one roadworthy.

[@johnbaker4915]

@@spiderwebb4983 My Mini has none in the back and only questionable lap belts in the front. Good job its so slow !

[@michaeltutty1540]

In the North American market, seatbelt mounts were required by 1960. Front seatbelts were mandated in 65, rear lap belts in 1970. Front shoulder belts were required in 1969, and rear seat upper mounts for shoulder belts were mandated by 1967. Head restraints in the front seats were mandated in 1968. Minis for this side of the Pond needed some serious upgrades, and that was before the bumper impact standards changed for 73 (front bumper had to absorb impacts up to 5 mph, rear to 3) and 74 (both bumpers had to absorb impacts up to 5 mph.)

[@deanosaur808]

@johnbaker4915 75mph is not slow 😅

[@Stu-SB]

Anyone else done a bypass hose on a Mini ?

[@davids8449]

I take you the small one from head .......yes many times they where two types available

[@michael_mouse]

... before the Mini I hated being thwarted

[@chrishultgren777]

Marc Bolan approved

[@deanosaur808]

Maybe if he wore a seatbelt 😉 The driver survived!

[@mxferro]

And BMC lost!!! Money on each and every one..lol.

[@deanosaur808]

It's BS. Just because ford said so? 🙄

[@Douglas-up2vh]

The Ultimate Death Trap

[@succulent951]

Not really. Those London roads tho...

[@Tourist1967]

Issigonis had some strange ideas...

[@rameshbhattacharjee4374]

Most Government Servants In The Lower Divisions Bought This Car In Malaysia, My Dad Messed Up He Bought A Hillman Imp, The Worse British Economy Car Ever Produced In The 1960s, The Rootes Group Messed Up, They Should Have Produced More Upscale Cars Instead Of Entertaining The Economy Car Market

[@deanosaur808]

Sure it had it's problems but they were great little cars. Quite a few survive and are going up in value 😉

[@joeennis2571]

all were sold at a loss

[@deanosaur808]

Said one person at ford 🙄 It's BS