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.

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.

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.

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.

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