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A Small Car's Big Milestone

50 years of MINI

By Joshua Condon Sep 15, 2009 10:31AM
Space-saver, fuel-sipper, rally-winner, icon. MINI is celebrating 50 years of history, and to mark the anniversary, the company is rolling out five new models at the Frankfurt Motor Show: the Coupe and Roadster Concepts (dubbed the Oxford Twins after the company's production plant in the U.K.); anniversary editions (and limited one-year production runs) of the MINI Mayfair and the MINI Camden; and the MINI One D, an entry-level diesel vehicle.

In honor of the half-century's worth of motoring excellence, here are some trivia-worthy facts about MINI:
  • Though the brand launched in 1959, Mini didn't become its own marque until a decade later; before that, the British Motor Corp. cars were launched under the Austin or Morris names (e.g. the Morris Mini-Minor and Austin Mini).
  • While the low-slung car with the bulldog stance is the most iconic of its lineup, the marque's stable has in the past included a van, a buggy, a station wagon -- even a pickup truck.
  • The Mini was designed to cater to the demand for more fuel-efficient vehicles directly caused by the gasoline shortage after the 1956 Suez Crisis.
  • The original 1961 Mini Cooper was a collaboration between John Cooper -- owner of the Cooper Car Co. and friend of original Mini designer Sir Alec Issigonis -- and BMC, and was created (despite BMC's early reluctance) as an affordable performance car.
  • Issigonis worked for 12 years -- from 1967 to 1979 -- on an experimental replacement for the Mini called the 9X, which, though technologically advanced for its time, never saw the light of day due to infighting within the parent groups
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