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A STYLE FOR THE SEVENTIES
Copied from the original Press
release for the 18-22 Series.
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED BEFORE 26 MARCH
1975
Harris Mann talks about the 18-22
Series.
When you were asked to style this
new saloon, what briefing were you given?
“The brief was to design a spacious
family saloon with styling advanced enough to last right through the 1970’s
and beyond. I was to exploit the full unique advantages of British Leyland’s
front–wheel drive, transverse–engined concept.”
“Despite its advanced styling, it was
to have as much space inside as its predecessor. It was to be easy to enter
and leave and to possess a structure fit for every foreseeable safety and
impact regulation. Finally, the aerodynamics were to be good, for reduced
noise, good high speed stability and low fuel consumption.”
What was the starting point when you
set out to design these cars?
“I saw it as the third stage in a
programme to get away from the sedate image of our quantity production cars.
The 1300 and old 1800/2200 were all based on the same Mini concept and blown
up in size accordingly, like a photo enlargement. Despite their practical
merits, and their purposeful character, they were not particularly
attractive.”
“What we wanted to do in breaking
away from the old image was to take it in easy stages; not to hit the public
between the eyes with it.”
“The Marina’s styling was clean and
simple, just to get the ball rolling, the Allegro was more advanced, this new
saloon even more. We’re not trying to be transatlantic or European. The
Americans are big and ornate and the proportions are wrong for what we are
trying to do. We’re not trying to be Europeans. There’s a sharp edge to
European styling that I try to avoid. The object was to be international in
appeal, but to retain or own identity.”
What influenced you most when you came
to choose this shape?
“The car is not a crib of anyone
else’s, but I am glad we appear to be moving forward on lines other
successful makers are travelling. Certainly, we’re all influenced by the
things we see on international automobile salons – the dream cars, I suppose.
In this case the start for me, as I think it was for other designers today,
was the sports – racing body.”
Question: Surely, waist - high sports
– racers, with the driver lying almost horizontal, are too impractical for
everyday driving?
“But sports – racers are pure
function vehicles and if there is a particular shape on them that can be
adapted to practical production models, then it must be a good thing.”
“We started thinking that way with
the Allegro, pulling in all the corners, cutting the air traps and pockets,
trying to curve it in.”
“People knock the stylist, but he’s
there to knock off the unnecessary bits and pieces. He can make a car far
more efficient at piercing the air as well as giving it the character he
wants, whether it be eager or sedate.”
“The effect that I wanted to get was
that the car was firm and eager. Built with its wheels out to the full width
of the body, sitting firmly on the ground rather than pouring over the wheels
as American cars do.”
How much work went into aerodynamic
research on this car?
“We went into the wind tunnel with
quarter-scale and full-size fibre glass models. There was originally a deep
spoiler on the rear roof lip, but it was too successful, creating too much
down-force. Of course that creates extra drag we can do without. So we
smoothed the lip out, leaving just enough to give us the down-force we needed
for stability.”
“I don’t know a great deal about
experimental aerodynamics but have enough grasp of the essentials to
interpret what the aerodynamicists tell us.”
“There was a lot of detail attention
at the front end. We had tried to find a compromise between the sloping front
we wanted for the nose and the requirement to pass enough air through the
radiator to meet all engine cooling needs.”
“So the shape beneath the front
bumper and the shape of the top bumper surfaces itself were modified as a
result of wind tunnel testing.”
“Models suggested that the car would
be very clean, with 0.350 co-efficient, but the actual car was just over
0.404, which places it amongst the better larger saloons. It’ll be economical
and stable.”
Ends.
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