The Mini turns 50!

I remember covering many thousands of miles in the old-style Mini, produced from 1959 to 2000.




It was a cult classic in its own lifetime, with over five million produced. Early models were notoriously unreliable, with parts known to drop off from time to time. The electrics, produced by Lucas in Britain (a firm that rapidly became known as the 'Prince Of Darkness' for the frequency with which its lights failed!), were particularly vulnerable, as if one drove through a puddle at any speed, water splashed into the distributor and the engine died on the spot. Those problems were (mostly) overcome in later production.

I can recall a few choice moments in Minis:

• Being collected from Heathrow Airport in London in 1973, with my father, by my sister and her husband, in their early-model Mini that only had first and fourth gears! To move, Ken revved the engine to screaming point in first gear, then changed up to fourth, at which the engine would cough, choke and splutter as it tried desperately to pick up enough speed to operate in its normal power band. Using only those two gears in stop-start London traffic was interesting, to say the least . . .
• Driving a South African Navy Mini up the hill behind Simon's Town to the Signal School at the top, in 1977. The Mini was incredibly maneuverable around corners, but a bit short on power when loaded down with four burly Navy types. By the time we reached the top of the (very steep and winding) hill road, the temperature gauge was usually off the clock, and an ominous hissing and spurts of white mist would be coming from beneath the hood!
• A long trip between Cape Town and Johannesburg with two friends in a Mini - almost nine hundred miles, stopping only for gas, food and bathroom breaks. The tiny car made the journey without complaint, but since interior legroom was never the Mini's strong point, the same couldn't be said for us! Our luggage filled the tiny trunk and half the back seat, leaving just enough space for one passenger, and the other two sat up front. I think it took us a week to get the cricks out of our spines after arrival!

In England this weekend the annual London to Brighton Mini Run celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the marque. The Daily Mail reports:

The troop of Minis that came in a spectrum of colours with many roofs displaying the Union Jack set off from Crystal Palace Park, London, in some classically British drizzle at 8.30am this morning.




To celebrate the 50th anniversary the first 51 Minis to leave London were representatives from each year of production from 1959 - 2009. They left the park in production year order.

There was also a world-record attempt for the longest parade of Minis through Crystal Palace Park.

There's more at the link, including some great pictures.

The new BMW-designed Mini, produced from 2001, is very nice, I'm sure, but to me it lacks the mystique (although, mercifully, also the backache!) of the originals. Happy 50th birthday, Mini, and I hope examples survive to celebrate your centenary!

Peter