Reputation is everything when it comes to cars. Bad word usually spreads, usually unfairly, and before you know it a TV show is repeatedly dropping pianos on a particular model for cheap laughs. A rival, meanwhile, goes on to be critically acclaimed and enjoys much better fortunes.
Indeed, automotive history is full of instances where one car has gone on to be praised and the other becomes something of an unloved also ran. But is that fair? We’ve delved deeper into four prime pairings to find out if we’re due some reappraisals.
MINI (RATED) v HILLMAN IMP (SLATED)
Few cars had such contrasting fortunes as the Mini and the Hillman Imp, and yet there were notable similarities too. The obvious one is that both tried to answer the need for small and economic transport while being bigger and far more useable than the bubble cars of the mid-1950s, but both were also riddled with early teething faults. Sadly, the Imp never really recovered during its 13-year run, while the Mini went on to achieve global stardom.
Part of this is down to the genius of the Mini’s design. Alec Issigonis wasn’t the first to employ front-wheel-drive, and nor was he the first to mount an engine transversely to save space. However, the way the Mini combined these elements set a new blueprint. Using the existing A-Series, he decided to mount the gearbox beneath the engine as part of an in-sump arrangement using transfer gears. The result was the first production front-wheel-drive car to have a water-cooled inline four-pot engine mounted transversely – something that left 80 per cent of the car for passengers. There was also the compact independent rubber cone system penned by his friend Alex Moulton, plus the wheel-at-each-corner arrangement coupled with 10-inch steels. With a very utilitarian interior devoid of creature comforts, there was room for four adults in a package just 10
