BMC ADO16

For many years, the ADO16 was a very common sight on the UK’s roads. If you grew up in the 1960s or ‘70s, you were likely to have learned to drive in one, been ferried around in one by a family member or even bought one as a cheap second-hand car. Following the success of the Mini, that car’s designer, Alec Issigonis, proceeded to take the basic concept of front engine/front-wheel drive and maximum passenger space, and apply it to a full range of cars. The mid-size ADO16 arrived in 1962, and the biggest in the range – the ADO17 1800/2200 ‘Landcrab’ – would be launched in 1964.

As with so many highly popular cars before and since, for many years, the 1100/1300 fell into the cheap ‘banger’ category, and coupled with their propensity to rust, many were simply run into the ground. Complex body structures meant that, for the average motorist, it was far cheaper to buy another example than to repair structural rust and huge numbers were consigned to the scrapheap.

Almost 50 years