The Ideal Town Car – A 1982 Mini City E Automatic

The 1980s was arguably the decade when the Mini’s image was transformed from inexpensive transport to a chic ‘retro’ fashion statement, as demonstrated by a myriad of limited-edition versions. By 1983, there was the Sprite, followed by the Mini 25 in 1984. 1985 saw the launch of the Ritz, the first of the ‘London Collection’, followed by the Chelsea, Piccadilly, and Park Lane.

It was these ‘London’ versions that seemed to herald British Leyland’s Austin Rover division, transforming the Mini’s image away from low-budget family transport. By 1987, it was no longer sold under one of the UK’s most famous marques as BL’s managing director Graham Day believed ‘Young people do not want to drive an Austin”.

All of which makes Gerald Grimes’s 1982 City E Automatic a fascinating example of the Mini’ Au Naturelle’. The central speedometer/fuel gauge dated back to 1959, and BL clearly decided the owner should not be distracted by water temperature and oil pressure gauges.

Nor would the City E owner apparently require a dipping rear-view mirror, a fuel cap lock, opening rear side windows, front seats with adjustable backrests or fresh air vents. At least a heated rear window and reversing lights were now standard equipment.

This list of fittings did not make the City E especially Spartan by 1982 standards – indeed, it was better equipped than the Ford Fiesta Popular Mk.1. Owners of the first entry-level Minis were probably impressed by the City E’s winding windows, and that was before they noticed it boasted a heater and windscreen washers.

Forty-three years ago, a City E cost £2,899, which meant it was £361 cheaper than a Metro City. The Automatic version was £3,465, which was still excellent value for money. With a top speed of 86 mph in manual form, the Mini was actually 2 mph faster than its more recent stablemate and with better acceleration.

As for British rivals, a motorist with a price ceiling of £3,000 would have dismissed the Reliant Kitten DL as too expensive at £3,425. Instead, they might have looked at the Citroën 2CV Charleston for £2882. For those not averse to rear-engine saloons (a format many regarded as dated in the early 1980s), a Skoda Estelle 120LE was £2,700.

A buyer in need of more space and four doors could have taken a £2,499 Lada 1200 or a £2,799 FSO 1500 for a test drive. However, the Mini had the advantage of being virtually part of the automotive furniture and being curiously timeless. By contrast, the Lada and FSO seemed to hark back to an era when Herman’s Hermits sang No Milk Today.

In 1982, Autocar praised the City E’s combination of “neatness, nimbleness and what is really a very good blend of performance (for the class) with very great economy” - 40.6 mpg no less. The Mini was also “top of the class as ever for fun and quality of steering and handling, but near the bottom in ride”.

When Motor tested the City E in 1985, they pointed out that Austin Rover sold 23,000 Minis in the UK the previous year. The Alec Issigonis design was “outselling all the other cars in this group”: the 2CV Charleston, the Fiat Panda 45 CL, the Lada Riva 1200L, the Estelle 105S and the Yugo 45. “The Mini is to the small car what Hoover is to the vacuum cleaner and Kodak is to cameras”.

The City E replaced the City as the entry-level Mini in 1982 with a higher compression version of the 1-litre engine. At that time, there was a faint sense at British Leyland that the Mini was on the way out as the Metro debuted in 1980. BL’s publicity of the early 1980s inevitably highlighted the Triumph Acclaim, the Austin Maestro and the Austin Montego.

But the Mini outlasted them all. As Autocar said in 1982, it was “one of the near-immortals”.