MINI Special: brown
For August 1979 the Mini’s 20th anniversary was marked by the introduction of the first true limited-edition Mini, which was the Mini 1100 Special.
This was a 5,000-car run with the 1098cc engine, broadly to the specification already in production for the European market as a standard model with the same name.
However this was the first time a UK-market ’round-nose’ (i.e. non-Clubman) Mini had been available with the 1098cc engine, and the UK limited edition was also fitted with unique Exacton alloy wheels – the first time these were fitted to a factory-produced Mini – and plastic wheelarch extensions. Inside was the 1275GT’s three-dial instrument cluster and a leather-rimmed wheel with a rectangular centre from the Innocenti Mini hatchback.
The 1100 Special and 850 City models were phased out by 1980, and during the same year the engine was upgraded to the improved A-Plus unit from the new Metro in 998cc form, which was now the only engine available in the Mini. This was then followed by a number of incremental developments.
