Skip to main content

The success story of the little champ ( Mini Cooper)

The Mini Cooper as we know it now, has a long and rich history. What started off as a humble and mainly a small car for a family has now evolved into a brand that is associated with the term “hot hatch” or even a “pocket rocket”. The car was originally launched as the Morris Minor and the Austin Seven, in August 1959. The car was later on it was called the Mini. 
Image result for old mini cooper advert
The Mini defiantly broke the mundane and text book based design, it featured a transverse engine and was a front wheel drive. The box like design freed up space in the inside. All these plus points made it the best-selling British car, it sold like hot cakes the total number of Mini’s sold was 5.3 million. During its production life span it was produced at various factories starting with the BMC then the British-Leyland and finally the Rover group. 1994 saw the start of the development of an all new mini.



Image result for old mini cooper advert



In 1997 during the Geneva motor show Mini displayed two concept Mini’s that suggested how the Mini would look like. When BMW sold the Rover group in 2000 they retained Mini. When BMW launched what they thought was the modern Mini it was a commercial success, customization being the key factor. In 2010 Mini launched the Countryman a “crossover” which is manufactured in Australia and is a relative success.   

Image result for old mini cooper advert


What really made the Mini a success?

The front wheel drive, short body over hangs and low center of gravity made it an instant success. In 1959 John Cooper sent one of his drivers Roy Salvadori to Monza. The one off one Mini built especially for this race finished hours before Reg Parnell who was driving an Aston Martin DB 4. The Mini Cooper could reach speeds of 130 km/h or 80 mph. 1964-1967 were the golden years in the Monte Carlo Rally, the famous formula 1 driver Nicky Lauda started his career with racing the Mini Cooper.


Image result for old mini cooper rally


The Mini is no new comer when it comes to winning awards, it has a whole list of awards from the best Motoring journals and insurance institute for highway safety (IIHS). In my opinion the Mini Cooper is a car that earned its name in the sports hatchback market, in other words it has managed to shine even amongst cars such as the Golf GTI and the Ford Focus RS. Being called a driver’s car by top class motor journalists. Over the past 58 years the Mini has created a history to be proud of and now aims to last even in the future with the development of an electric Mini. Hence it truly is a legend and a story of how time has just helped shape the Mini in to a perfection.      

    
Image result for old mini cooper advert





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Born from Imagination: The Story of the Ferrari 3Z Spider

The Californified ferrari as I jokingly called it while discussing with my friend a truly odd ball Ferrari that one would not have heard or come across. Those who have seen or heard of this Ferrari would have the statement or expression as “oh that Ferrari” or “is that even a Ferrari”. Which Ferrari am I talking about, you ask? It's none other than the Ferrari 3Z Spider concept, designed by Carrozzeria Zagato and shown first at the 1971 Turin motor show.  About the design and the car Luigi Chinetti The car was under Luigi Chinetti's commission, the design is distinctive from other custom body Ferrari’s. Zagato was a famous coach designer from Milan, Italy. The car was commissioned by Luigi Chinetti, a famous Italian race car driver. After immigrating to the United States during World War II, he went on to contest the 24 Hours of Le Mans twelve times, winning on three occasions, and claimed two victories at the 24 Hours of Spa Francorchamps. He went on to create the North Ameri...
3 comments
Read more

Welcome back Supra

The Toyota Supra like all the other Japanese sports cars was a tuners dream, when launched it competed with the Nissan GTR’s Mazda RX-7, and Honda NSX. This blog is written to address the issue of how we are left with only one true Japanese sports car that has stuck to its grass roots, that is the Nissan GTR, the R35 is still the supercar beater that it always was but with a slightly higher price tag. The motive of this essay is to convey my thoughts on how Toyota killed the Supra yet it is re-born as a fierce samurai fighter who was raised in Germany. About the Supra The fighter was born as regular old sports car with low horse power, and highly reliable engine. The car starts its journey 40 years back in 1979 as the Celica Supra, the middle name a reference to its shared chassis with Toyota’s smaller Celica sports coupe.   Later in the 80’s the two models split the celiac was the smaller sports car but the more success full car was the supra. ...
1 comment
Read more
my new car: this is about my experience with my Tata bolt . recently we purchased the Tata bolt, it is a new launch from the Tata's. after we purchased it we decided to drive it down to my grandparents house. it was launched after the sedan version which is the zest. Our car is the high  end variant , so it is loaded with luxurious features such as the Harman  entertainment system,which is normally found in high end cars. Coming to the performance it has the same revotron engine as the zest. It is a 1.2 l petrol engine which is powerful. It also manages to give a millage of 13 km per liter for better millage at cruising speeds there is an option of an Eco  mode this increases the fuel efficiency even more. The other mode is the sports mode this provides a sudden boost of power while over taking. The cabin is really comfortable and it has the best  space and leg room in its class. the car lacks a bit of boot space , well this is done on purpose as the more spac...
Post a Comment
Read more