Denmark: when’s a Mini not a Mini?
The Danes had an independent streak when it came to car names, never more so than with the Mini, which went by the name of ‘Morris Mascot’ until 1981.
Chris Cowin takes a look at the history and then focuses on some special Mascots from the late-1970s.
"The Morris Mini Minor was initially advertised in Denmark as the ‘Morris 850’ but, within a short space of time, importer DOMI had adopted the ‘Mascot’ name. This slotted into its ‘M car’ strategy which applied to the whole Morris range, with the 1100 being christened ‘Morris Marina’ from launch in 1962, and the Morris 1800 being named ‘Morris Monaco’. Vans were also given the treatment being Morris Meteor 1 (J4) and Morris Meteor 2 (J2), though the hugely popular Minor was usually referred to as ‘Morris 1000’ in the 1960s.
As in many countries around the world, Morris vehicles (and other former Nuffield marques) were still handled by a different importer from Austin, and marketed in friendly competition during the 1960s. So adopting the Morris Mascot name helped differentiate the DOMI version of the Mini from the Austin, which was imported by De Forenede Automobilfabriker, and initially baptised the ‘Austin Partner’.
In later years this would become simply ‘Austin Mini’ until, in 1972, DOMI gained control of all British Leyland imports to Denmark, at which point the Austin Mini disappeared and all Minis were sold as Morris Mascots. This retention of Morris branding for the Mini through the 1970s was in marked contrast to the UK and most other continental European markets and involved supplementary “Morris” badges as well as the “Mascot” badges which usually appeared on the boot lid at bottom right."
More on AROnline here:-
https://www.aronline.../morris-mascot/
Edited by mab01uk, 27 October 2021 - 08:33 AM.
