Why the Mini is maximum fun

Norfolk Mini owners display their cars outside the Forum as they celebrate 50 years of the motoring icon.

KATE SCOTTER
28 August 2009 11:30



It's 50 years since a certain little British car hit the road and went on to become a design icon in the Swinging Sixties and beyond.

KATE SCOTTER discovers how it is has kept its appeal over five decades.

Ask anyone who owns a Mini and there's just one word which sums the little car up - “fun”.

It is a car which makes heads turn, whether it's the new style or old, and this week it celebrates its 50th anniversary.

And over the half century, it has turned from a “no-frills” run-around into one of the best-known vehicles of all time.

The first Morris Mini was produced at Oxford's Cowley plant in 1959. Since that day, more than six million Minis have been sold.

Mini restorer Tim Clubman, 43, from Stalham, who has always owned a Mini, said: “They are a great little car - laughable, cute, fun to drive and just like a go-kart.

“They are affordable and cheap to run and there's a whole Mini community. All around the world, there's some kind of Mini event happening every day.”

The original Mini was designed by Sir Alec Issigonis for the British Motor Company (BMC).

With rope door handles, visible seams and a tiny 848cc engine - reduced from 948cc with a petrol shortage in mind, following the Suez crisis - the Mini was aimed at a post-war public that was feeling the pinch. Just 140 of the original Minis are known to remain today.

Sue Joseph, 63, who lives in Norwich, has recently had her Mini Cooper, which she bought 40 years ago when she was 23, restored. She said: “It's not been on the road for a long time and my husband and a friend have spent the last 15 years rebuilding it.

“They are a fun car, bit of an icon. We used to live in the London area and it was so easy to drive and park.”

The Mini is well remembered for being driven up Kings Road by stars such as the Beatles and Mary Quant, and raced around the streets of Turin by Michael Caine in the 1969 film The Italian Job.

Michelle Foyster, 30, from Cantley, near Acle, whose husband, Lee, owns a 1997 convertible Mini which is a rare Monaco blue, remembers being taken to school in her mum's brown Mini.

She said: “We've always loved them. I had one as my second car and my mum and dad always had them and my husband has had a couple of them as well.

“They are just fun. My mum used to drive me to and from school in a Mini, a little brown one, and my Nan had one too. They've always been a cheap little car to run.”

Over the years, there have been a number of variations of the Mini, most notably the sportier Cooper and Cooper S versions which came about after Issigonis' friend John Cooper, owner of the Cooper Car Company and designer and builder of Formula One and rally cars, saw the potential of the Mini for competition.

The two men collaborated to create the Mini Cooper, a nimble, economical and inexpensive car. The Austin Mini Cooper and Morris Mini Cooper debuted in 1961. A more powerful Mini Cooper, dubbed the “S”, was released in 1963, going on to earn acclaim with Monte Carlo Rally victories in 1964, 1965 and 1967.

But the biggest change came in 2000 when BMW took over the Mini brand after buying the struggling Rover firm. In 2002 the new Mini was launched, sparking controversy by purists who prefer the “original” Mini.

Many would still spend thousands on the original style Mini including Harry Harrison, 18, from Aylsham, who spent £6,500 on one of the last original-shaped Minis made.

He said: “My dad always had Minis and always took me in his. He died last May and on the anniversary of his death this year I bought my first car, a Mini. It brings back all the memories for me. It's a great car to drive, just like a go-kart and it gets a lot of looks.”

This weekend, members of the Norfolk Mini Owners Club will be seen on the roads of Norfolk as part of their Billingford burger run to raise money for charity and next weekend they will be at the Norfolk Gala Day.

The club, which has more than 100 members and meets once month at the Cottage in Thorpe, attends and holds a number of events.

For more information about the Norfolk Mini Owners Club, which welcomes owners of both the new and old style Minis, go to www.drive.to/nmoc

Have you got a story about owning a Mini? Call reporter Kate Scotter on 01603 772326 or email kate.scotter@archant.co.uk

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