Amalgamated Drawing Office

The Amalgamated Drawing Office was the design and engineering department of the British Motor Corporation. From the early 1950s, the resulting projects of the office were known by the initials ADO. The numbers were assigned to vehicle and engineering projects, some resulting in production models. The ADO numbering system continued well beyond BMC's absorption into British Leyland, who continued to use the convention (not, however on any former Leyland Motors marques such as Rover or Triumph) until the late 1970s.

Contrary to popular belief, ADO does not stand for Austin Drawing Office,^[1] the "amalgamation" referring back to the merger of Austin and Morris to form BMC in 1952.

ADO project numbers

• ADO6 Austin FX4 Taxi
• ADO8 Austin A40 Farina
• ADO9 Austin A55 Cambridge
• ADO10 Austin A90 Westminster
• ADO11 475cc 2-cylinder A-Series engine that never reached production, essentially half a 948cc A-Series.^[2]
• ADO13 Austin-Healey Sprite
• ADO14 Austin Maxi
• ADO15 Mini
• ADO16 1100/1300^[3]
• ADO17 Austin 1800 & 2200, Morris 1800 & 2200, Wolseley 18/85 & Six
• ADO19 Austin Ant
• ADO20 Mini MkIII and Clubman
• ADO22 Proposed replacement for the Austin 1100^[4]
• ADO23 MGB
• ADO25 BMC E-Series engine 6-cylinder
• ADO26 Austin Healey 3000 MkIII
• ADO27 Austin Tasman / Austin Kimberley
• ADO28 Morris Marina
• ADO31 MGA 1600
• ADO32 BMC E-Series engine 4-cylinder
• ADO34 Pininfarina design for 2 seat roadster based on Mini.
• ADO37 Vanden Plas Princess 3 litre
• ADO40 Wolseley 24/80
• ADO41 Austin-Healey Sprite MkII
• ADO47 MG Midget MkI
• ADO50 Mini Cooper and Cooper S
• ADO52 MGC
• ADO53 Austin A110 Westminster
• ADO59 Morris Minor 1000
• ADO61 Austin 3-Litre
• ADO66 Vanden Plas Princess 4-litre R
• ADO67 Austin Allegro
• ADO68 Sports car project^[5]
• ADO70 Michelotti concept for a Mini-based coupe
• ADO71 Austin/Morris 18-22/Princess
• ADO73 Morris Ital
• ADO74 Concept supermini model as a possible Mini replacement^[6]
• ADO75 MGB GT V8
• ADO76 Proposed revised MGB but resulting in the rubber-bumper model^[7]
• ADO77 Proposed second generation Morris Marina that never reached production^[8]
• ADO88 Became project LC8 and then Mini Metro
• ADO99 Became project LC10, then LM10 and finally Austin Maestro

LC/LM/AR codes

Following the various reorganisations of BMC, and the creation of the combined Leyland Cars division of British Leyland, the codes changed to LC in the mid 1970s.^[9] Following the merger of Rover's Specialist Division SD codes, these resulted in LM (Light Medium) codes.

• LC8 Austin Metro, referred to as ADO88 in early development
• LC9 Triumph Acclaim, also referred to as "Project Bounty" during early development.
• LC10 Austin Maestro, later becoming LM10, referred to as ADO99 in early development.
• LM11 Austin Montego,^[10] referred to as LC11 in early development
• LM12 Proposed coupe version of Maestro, cancelled
• LM14 Proposed hatchback derivative of the Montego, cancelled
• LM15 Proposed replacement for the Rover SD1, later becoming project XX and eventually the Rover 800^[11]

There was also a short lived "AR" code following the renaming of BL Cars Ltd to Austin Rover in 1982. Most of the AR-designated projects were either abandoned or were renamed using the Rxx convention (see below)

• AR6 Austin Metro replacement - was scaled back in scope and became the R6 Rover Metro programme, launched in 1990.
• AR8 Proposed replacement for the Rover 213/216. Evolved into Project "YY", and eventually the R8 Rover 200-series.
• AR9 Austin Montego facelift. Launched in mid 1988. This was the only AR- designated project to make it into production.
• AR16 A reskinned Austin Montego with new exterior panels to continue the styling language of the Rover 800, along with a five door hatchback variant designated as AR17. Was abandoned in favour of the "Syncro" project - which became the Rover 600

R codes & others used by the Rover Group

After British Leyland (now BL plc) was renamed Rover Group and its subsequent re-privatisation and sale to British Aerospace (and later, BMW), project codes in the 'Rxx format were generally used, although some projects were given alternative designations or sometimes names. Projects in this series were not numbered consecutively, unlike the earlier conventions. The later RD code was used for projects undertaken by MG Rover from 2000 onward, to that company's collapse in 2005.

R and RD codes

• R3 Series III Rover 200/25 (1995-2005)
• R6 Rover Metro/100 (1990-1997) Was originally AR6, which would have been an all-new Metro replacement - R6 ended up becoming a major facelift and re-engineering of the original 1980 Austin Metro (ADO88/LC8)
• R8 Series II Rover 200/400 (1989-1995) Was initially known as "YY" (after the original Rover 800's "XX" designator).
• R17 Rover 800 facelift (1992-1998)
• R30 Rover 25/45 replacement. Proposed for a 2002-03 launch, but was abandoned following the sale and break-up of the Rover Group by BMW.
• R40 Rover 75 (1998-2005)
• RD60 (later RDX60) Mid-range saloon positioned below the Rover 75, but was abandoned following MG Rover's collapse in 2005.
• RD110 Rover CityRover (2003-2005)

Others

• Adder MG RV8 (1992-1995)
• Pathfinder An aborted recreational vehicle which would have carried Rover branding. This ultimately evolved into the CB14 project Land Rover Freelander
• HH-R Rover 400/45 (1995-2005) Also known as "Theta" during its development.
• PR1/PR2/PR3 These projects would ultimately evolve into the MGF
• Syncro Rover 600 (1993-1998)

Other codes

The Australian division used YD codes from 1962 to identify their projects.

References