51-462: The Hillman Minx was a mid-sized family car that British car maker Hillman produced from 1931 to 1970. There were many versions of the Minx over that period, as well as badge engineered variants sold by Humber , Singer , and Sunbeam . From the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s, the Minx and its derivatives were the greatest-volume sellers of the "Audax" family of cars from Rootes, which also included
102-406: A b-pillar that wound down out of sight along with the rear side window to give an unbroken window line when all windows were fully opened: the rear window assembly was of a three-piece wrap-around form. The wheelbase and overall length of the car remained the same as those of the four-door saloon and convertible permutations. The Mark VII , also introduced in 1953, featured longer rear mudguards and
153-576: A bigger boot. For the Mark VIII , in 1954, a new ohv 1390 cc engine was installed. This engine, two years later, went into the first of the new "Audax series" Minxes. For a short time in the early 1950s, Hillman Minxes were sold in the US to Americans seeking better gas mileage. American reviews of the vehicle were lukewarm. The Mark VI to Mark VIII was produced in Japan by Isuzu between 1953 and 1956, as
204-539: A body, the "Ley T6", and in 1923 Auto Union presented a streamliner concept car, designed by Jaray. Another of the first known cars with a ponton body is the Bugatti Type 32 "Tank" which participated in the 1923 French Grand Prix at Tours. In 1922 the Romanian engineer Aurel Persu filed a patent application for an "aerodynamically-shaped automobile with the wheels mounted inside the aerodynamic body" having
255-503: A decade or so ago ... best sellers include Ford Torino , Chevrolet Chevelle , AMC Matador , Plymouth Satellite ..." The domestic manufacturers began changing the definition of "medium" as they developed new models for an evolving market place. A turning point occurred in the late 1970s, when rising fuel costs and government fuel economy regulations caused all car classes to shrink, and in many cases to blur. Automakers moved previously "full-size" nameplates to smaller platforms such as
306-592: A design prevalent in the United States in the 1930s where front fenders encased a wheel and terminated in a teardrop point, remaining distinct from the running boards or the body of the car. Examples include the Cord 810/812 , the Auburn Speedster and several designs by French Carrossiers, notably Figoni et Falaschi . In 1938, The Buick Y-Job , the auto industry's first concept car was "meant to be
357-619: A drag coefficient of only 0.22 and received it in Germany in 1924. Named the Persu Streamliner the car was built in Germany by Persu, with the help of several local companies. During his research Persu established that the most adequate aerodynamic shape was that of a water droplet falling to the ground. In 1924, Fidelis Böhler designed one of the first production cars with a ponton body, the Hanomag 2/10 . The car's body resembled
408-676: A large, rear-engine design using an aeroplane inspired body style. Ford and General Motors followed the trend with their own designs from 1949. Ford examples are the Ford Taunus (Germany) and the Ford Zephyr (United Kingdom}). General Motors examples are the Vauxhall Velox (United Kingdom).- and the Opel Kapitän (Germany). One of the earliest completely new styled cars that were introduced after World War II in
459-432: A loaf of bread earning it the sobriquet of " Kommissbrot "—a coarse whole grain bread as issued by the army. The economical car was produced from 1924 to 1928. Böhler built the core body around two side-by-side passenger seats. He dispensed with running boards and integrated the fenders in the body to save on weight." The inexpensive car became popular with consumers in Germany. In 1935, Vittorio Jano , working with
510-629: A modified version they called the Minx Mark II . A much more modern-looking Minx, the Mark III , was sold from 1948. Three different body styles were offered initially, these being saloon, estate car and drophead coupé (convertible). Beneath the metal, however, and apart from updated front suspension, little had changed: the Mark III retained the 1185 cc side-valve engine of its predecessor. Claimed power output, at 35 bhp (26.1 kW),
561-499: A new name, the Minx Magnificent, and a restyle with a much more rounded body. The chassis was stiffened and the engine moved forwards to give more passenger room. The rear panel, previously vertical, was now set at a sloping angle, and the manufacturers offered the option of a folding luggage grid attached to the rear panel for "two pounds, seven shillings and sixpence" (slightly under £2.40) painted. A Commer-badged estate car
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#1732780357133612-614: A newly arrived immigrant in New Zealand spots one and exclaims: "Humber 80? There's no such car!" In Australia, a Series Va model was released in 1965. It was fitted with a more powerful 1592cc engine and the all-synchromesh gearbox destined for the forthcoming Series VI model. The Audax Minx was also built in Japan by Isuzu Motors as the Isuzu Hillman Minx , under licence from Rootes, between September 1956 and June 1964. Isuzu produced their own unique estate car version,
663-499: A tank, attached primarily on the top edge—and resembling pontoons. As this roughly coincided with the automobile styling trend where distinct running boards and articulated fenders became less common — with cars carrying integrated front fenders and full-width, full-length bodywork — the fenders took on the "pontoon fender" nickname. The post-war trend of the markedly round, slab-sided designs became itself known as ponton styling—with many postwar Mercedes-Benz models informally nicknamed
714-466: A vision of the future of the automobile and test the reaction of customers to the new design with streamline and ponton elements", displaying a further degree of integration of the pontoon fenders with the main body of the car. Subsequently, the term pontoon fender took on another more prominent definition, derived from the wartime practice in Germany of adding full-length tread armor along each side of
765-436: Is an automotive design genre that spanned roughly from the 1930s-1960s, when pontoon -like bodywork enclosed the full width and uninterrupted length of a car body — eliminating previously distinct running boards and articulated fenders . The integrated fenders of an automobile with ponton styling may also be called pontoon fenders, and the overall trend may also be known as envelope styling. Now largely archaic,
816-662: The Ford LTD II and the Plymouth Fury . A comparison test by Popular Science of four intermediate sedans (the 1976 AMC Matador, Chevrolet Malibu , Ford Torino, and Dodge Coronet ) predicted that these will be the "big cars of the future." By 1978, General Motors made its intermediate models smaller. New "official" size designations in the U.S. were introduced by the EPA , which defined market segments by passenger and cargo space. Formerly mid-sized cars that were built on
867-517: The French and German word ponton , meaning 'pontoon'. The Langenscheidt German–English dictionary defines Pontonkarrosserie as "all-enveloping bodywork, straight-through side styling, slab-sided styling." In 1921, Hungarian aerodynamicist Paul Jaray requested a patent for a streamlined car with an evenly shaped lower body, that covers the wheels and runs parallel to the floor space. A year later he presented his first running prototype with such
918-748: The Isuzu Hillman Minx , prior to their 1961 introduction of the Bellel . A 2-door coupé utility variant of the Minx Mark VIII was produced by Rootes Australia as the Hillman de luxe Utility , circa 1956. The Audax body was designed by the Rootes Group, but helped by the Raymond Loewy design organisation, who were involved in the design of Studebaker coupés in 1953. Announced in May 1956
969-580: The Singer Gazelle and Sunbeam Rapier . The final version of the Minx was the "New Minx" launched in 1967, which was part of the " Arrow " family and essentially a basic version of the Hillman Hunter . Generally, the Minx was available in four-door saloon and estate forms, with a 1496-cc engine. The Hillman Super Minx was a slightly larger model offered during the Audax era. Throughout
1020-601: The United States was the Rambler Six that was introduced in 1956, although it was called a "compact" car at that time. Much smaller than any standard contemporary full-size cars, it was called a compact to distinguish it from the small imported cars that were being introduced into the marketplace. By the early 1960s, the car was renamed the Rambler Classic and while it retained its basic dimensions, it
1071-676: The 1938 model, became a pressed alloy component rather than a composite. During the Second World War, British car companies produced simple Utility load carriers, the Car, Light Utility or "Tilly" which was later developed into the experimental Hillman Gnat . For Hillman it was the Hillman 10HP, a Minx chassis with a two-person cab and covered load area behind. The basic saloon was also produced for military and essential civilian use from 1940 to 1944. The Minx sold between 1945 and 1947 had
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#17327803571331122-596: The 1946 Frazer / Kaiser , and the 1946 Crosley CC series . The Howard "Dutch" Darrin -designed Frazer won the Fashion Academy of New York Gold Medal for design achievement, and was said to have been the inspiration for the 1949 Borgward Hansa 1500 , Germany's first sedan in the ponton style. In the Soviet Union, the GAZ-M20 Pobeda came into production in 1946. This was about one month after
1173-619: The 1953 Olympia Record as "the first Opel with a full-width, or ponton, body shell". The Volkswagen Beetle carried articulated running boards and fenders, but the subsequent Volkswagen Type 3 became known for its ponton styling; in the Netherlands the Volkswagen Type 3 (1961–1974) 2-door notchback sedan was referred to as the Ponton. In a reference work on alternative-energy vehicles, electrical-engineering academics used
1224-534: The Humber 80 and Humber 90, badge-engineered models based respectively on the Minx and Super Minx, to give Humber dealers a smaller car to sell alongside the locally assembled Hawk and Super Snipe. Although the 90 was identical to the Super Minx apart from badging, the cheaper 80 featured a horizontal bar grille design. The Humber 80 was acknowledged in the 1980s Roger Hall play Prisoners of Mother England , in which
1275-856: The Isuzu Hillman Express, from 1958 to 1964. Launched late in 1961, the Hillman Super Minx was intended at one stage to replace the Minx Series III. In the event the Series III would be replaced in 1963 by the Series V, while the Super Minx was launched as a separate, albeit closely related, model. A replacement Minx (sometimes identified, retrospectively, as the New Minx) took over from the Series VI in 1967. It
1326-406: The Rootes Group. The original Minx was announced to the public 1 October 1931. It was straightforward and conventional with a pressed-steel body on separate chassis and 30 bhp 1185 cc engine producing cushioned power . It was upgraded with a four-speed transmission in 1934 and a styling upgrade, most noticeably a slightly V-shaped grille. For 1935 the range was similar except that synchromesh
1377-564: The United States and is used for cars larger than compact cars and smaller than full-size cars . "Large family car" is a UK term and a part of the D-segment in the European car classification. Mid-size cars are manufactured in a variety of body styles, including sedans , coupes , station wagons , hatchbacks , and convertibles . Compact executive cars can also fall under the mid-size category. The automobile that defined this size in
1428-515: The United States were the 1949 Nash models. Popular Science magazine described the new "pontoon" Nashes as "the most obvious departure from previous designs." They "carried the fender less pontoon-body, fast-back shape further than the competition." This Nash design became a "family appearance" for their automobiles that also included the Nash-Healey . The 1952 redesign of the two-seat sports car took on an "even closer family appearance" to
1479-511: The brothers Gino and Oscar Jankovitz, created a one-off mid-engine prototype on an Alfa Romeo 6C 2300 chassis, which Jano had shipped to Fiume in 1934. The brothers Jankovitz had been close friends with designer Paul Jaray, and the prototype, called the Alfa Romeo Aerodinamica Spider , featured ponton styling —an especially early and clear example of the bulbous, uninterrupted forms that would come to characterize
1530-800: The car went through a succession of annual facelifts each given a series number, replacing the mark number used on the previous Minxes. The Series I , introduced in 1956, was followed by the Series II in 1957, the Series III in 1958, the Series IIIA in 1959, the Series IIIB in 1960, the Series IIIC in 1961, the Series V in 1963 and the Series VI in 1965. There was no Series IV. Over
1581-456: The car's "hood, body, fenders, and headlights are integral to the continuously flowing surface, rather than added on. Rounded, flowing forms, with unbroken horizontal lines between the fenders—the style had identified as "the so-called Ponton Side Design" became "the new fashion in Europe". Two of the first American cars with fresh post-war styling, that adopted the new envelope body style, were
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1632-570: The first 1946 Kaiser rolled off the production line. In Britain, the Standard Vanguard went on sale in 1947. The 1947 Studebaker Champion , designed by Virgil Exner and Roy Cole featured an innovative rear end that "surprised Americans who smiled and asked :which way is it going?" However, the design is sometimes erroneously attributed to Raymond Loewy . In 1948, the Czechoslovakian Tatra 600 began production,
1683-602: The genre. In 1937, Pinin Farina designed a flowing ponton-style body for the Lancia Aprilia berlinetta aerodynamica coupé, and also the open body on the 1940 Lancia Aprilia Cabriolet. The 1946 Cisitalia 202 coupé, which Farina designed from sketches by Cisitalia's Giovanni Savonuzzi, was the car that "transformed postwar automobile design" according to New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). MoMA acquired an example for its permanent collection in 1951, noting that
1734-696: The life of the Minx, there was usually an estate version—and, from 1954 to 1965, a short-wheelbase estate, the Hillman Husky , and a van derivative known as the Commer Cob. The Minx model name was revived briefly – along with the "Rapier" name, as applied to the Sunbeam Rapier version of the Audax family – as a special edition late in the life of the Talbot Alpine / Talbot Solara cars, produced by Chrysler Europe after its takeover of
1785-405: The line of cars themselves kept increasing in size. By 1965, these GM "A platform" mid-size models matched the size of 1955 full-size cars. During the 1970s, the intermediate class in the U.S. was generally defined as vehicles with wheelbases between 112 inches (2,845 mm) and 118 inches (2,997 mm). Once again, the cars grew and by 1974 they were "about as large as the full-size cars of
1836-607: The mid-size market for decades. Mid-size cars were the most popular category of cars sold in the United States, with 27.4 percent during the first half of 2012, ahead of crossovers at 19 percent. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Fuel Economy Regulations for 1977 and Later Model Year (dated July 1996) includes definitions for classes of automobiles. Based on the combined passenger and cargo volume, mid-size cars are defined as having an interior volume index of 110–119 cu ft (3.1–3.4 m ). Ponton (automobile) Ponton or pontoon styling
1887-446: The redesigned Nash models by featuring "pontoon-type fenders fore and aft." The new styling also moved the headlights "from the pontoon fenders to the grille." The term is also used in reference to Mercedes-Benz models from 1953 to 1962. For example, a book about the marque refers to "the Ponton", the "Ponton saloon", "Ponton 220", "Ponton 220S and SE coupes and cabriolets", and "the Ponton models". A General Motors document refers to
1938-517: The same 1185 cc side-valve engine, the same wheelbase and virtually the same shape as the prewar Minx. This postwar Minx became known as the Minx Mark I (or Minx Phase I). This was the first Minx with a protruding boot (trunk) that nodded to the Ponton , three-box design by then replacing the 'flat back' look, inherited from models that had debuted in the 1930s. Between 1947 and 1948, Hillman offered
1989-679: The same platform, like the AMC Matador sedan, had a combined passenger and cargo volume of 130 cubic feet (3.68 m ), and were now considered "full-size" automobiles. Cars that defined the mid-size market in the 1980s and 1990s included the Chrysler K-Cars ( Dodge Aries and Plymouth Reliant ), the Ford Taurus , and the Toyota Camry , which was upsized into the midsize class in 1991. The Taurus and Camry came to define
2040-406: The term ponton describes the markedly bulbous, slab-sided configuration of postwar European cars, including those of Mercedes-Benz , Opel , Auto Union , DKW , Borgward , Lancia , Fiat , Rover , Renault , and Volvo —as well as similar designs from North America and Japan, sometimes — in its most exaggerated usage — called the "bathtub" look in the U.S. The term derives from
2091-476: The term as a generic for saloon cars with three-box design ; also a 2007 German work on car design and technology mentions a " Rover -Ponton" (ponton-style Rover); and a French book on art and design also used the term in an automotive context in 1996. Pontoon fenders are a type of automobile fender , or "wings" as they are more usually called in the United Kingdom. Originally the term referred to
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2142-403: The years the engine was increased in capacity from 1390 cc (in the Series I and II) to 1725 cc in the Series VI. A variety of manual transmissions , with column or floor change, and automatic transmissions were offered. For the automatic version, the Series I and Series II used a Lockheed Manumatic two-pedal system (really only a semi-automatic), the Series III a Smiths Easidrive, which
2193-403: Was a reduced specification version of the Hillman Hunter . Saloon and estate versions were produced, initially equipped with a 54 bhp 1496 cc 4 cylinder engine. A 61 bhp 1725cc engine became available in 1968. The final Minx was replaced by a Hillman Hunter De Luxe model in 1970. Mid-size car Mid-size —also known as intermediate —is a vehicle size class which originated in
2244-546: Was added to all forward gears and this Minx became the first mass-produced car with an all-synchromesh gearbox. it was designed by Rootes' technical director Captain John Samuel Irving (1880-1953) , designer of Sunbeam aero engines and Sunbeam's Golden Arrow ' in conjunction with Alfred Herbert Wilde (1891–1930), recently chief engineer of Standard and designer of the Standard Nine . The 1936 model had
2295-707: Was added to the range. The final pre-war model was the 1938 Minx. There were no more factory-built tourers but some were made by Carbodies . The car was visually similar to the Magnificent, with a different grille, and access to the luggage boot (trunk) was external (that on the predecessor was accessed by folding down the rear seat). There were two saloon models in the range, the basic "Safety" model with simple rexine trim instead of leather, no opening front quarter lights, and less luxurious trim levels. The De Luxe model had leather trim, opening quarter lights, extra trim pads, and various other comfort benefits. The 1938 model
2346-561: Was also unchanged. However, in 1949 the old engine was bored out and compression ratio increased, for the Minx Mark IV , to 1265 cc, and power output increased by 7 per cent to 37.5 bhp (28.0 kW). A Mark IV saloon tested by The Motor magazine in 1949 had a top speed of 67 mph (108 km/h) and could accelerate from 0–60 mph (97 km/h) in 39.7 seconds. A fuel consumption of 32.1 miles per imperial gallon (8.8 L/100 km; 26.7 mpg ‑US )
2397-432: Was not the final iteration before the outbreak of war, however, as the 1939 model was considerably different mechanically, with virtually the entire drivetrain improved to the extent that few parts are interchangeable with the 1938 model. This includes gearbox, differential, half shafts, steering box, and a great many other mechanical and cosmetic changes. Even the front grille, which to the casual eye looks almost identical to
2448-399: Was now competing with an array of new "intermediate" models from General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. The introduction of the 1962 Ford Fairlane was viewed by consumers as too close to the compact Falcon in size and performance as well as too close to the full-sized Ford models in price. It was the introduction of General Motors " senior compacts " that grew the mid-size market segment as
2499-527: Was recorded. The test car cost £505 including taxes, the price including radio (£36), over-riders (£5) and heater (£18). The Mark V , introduced in 1951, featured side chromium trim and a floor-mounted handbrake. The Mark VI of 1953 featured a new grille, revised combustion chambers and a two-spoke steering wheel. A fourth body variation was added, badged as the Hillman Minx Californian, a two-door hard-top coupé with, slightly unusually,
2550-457: Was recorded. The test car cost £794 including taxes of £265. There were Singer Gazelle and Sunbeam Rapier variants of all these Hillman Minx models and the names were again used on derivatives in the later Rootes Arrow range. Some models were re-badged in certain markets, with the Sunbeam and Humber marques used for some exports. The New Zealand importer/assembler Todd Motors created
2601-582: Was the first production dual-clutch transmission , while the V/VI a Borg Warner . The Series VI was fitted with an all-synchromesh gearbox. A Series III deLuxe saloon with 1494 cc engine tested by the British magazine The Motor in 1958 had a top speed of 76.9 mph (123.8 km/h) and could accelerate from 0–60 mph (97 km/h) in 25.4 seconds. A fuel consumption of 31.8 miles per imperial gallon (8.9 L/100 km; 26.5 mpg ‑US )
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