Interesting facts about Mini

The creator of the legendary Mini, Alec Issigonis was born November 18, 1906. The car he created has become one of the symbols of the British car industry. Here are some interesting facts about this amazing vehicle.

Classic Mini marked the revival in the British car industry. This car also received a number of prestigious awards. The most significant of these are considered to be the title of "The Car of the Century" by Autocar magazine (1995), as well as "European Car of the Century" by the results of online voting conducted by the NGO Global Automotive Elections Foundation in 1999.

More than 5.3 million classic Minis were released in the period of 1959 - 2000. Due to this fact, the car has become the most popular British vehicle in the history of car industry.

Mini Cooper S became a true legend in the Rally held in Monte Carlo. The crews on that car became winners in 1964, 1965 and 1967. In 1966, racers on the Mini Cooper S took all three first places, however, they were disqualified due to incorrect headlight lamp. That decision made by French judges led to the barrage of criticism. As a result, the crew of the Citroën DS, which, by the way, had wrong lights installed, took the first place. Being the winner, the Finnish racer Pauli Toivonen as a protest refused to accept the award and cut his ties with Citroën team.

The Classic Mini has often been criticized for its security. In response to all the accusations and criticism, Alec Issigonis answered: “I have created a car with good brakes and control. If people have accidents with this car, it's their fault” and “I do not design cars to see them crushed”.

In 1968, the classic Mini was banned for sale in the United States due to a mismatch of the security requirements. The car has also been criticized in Britain. Based on the car accidents statistics in the period from 1990 to 2000, Mini has become one of the compact cars that caused the most traumatic injuries.

Due to its popularity in the market, the classic Mini was given a huge number of names: Austin 850, Austin Partner, Austin Mini, Austin Seven, Leyland Mini, Morris 850, Morris Mascot, Morris Mini, Riley Elf, Rover Mini, Wolseley 1000, Wolseley Hornet.

Despite the fact that the official production of the classic Mini was completed in 2000, the release of the special series of the last original car was in 2012. That year, Mini 1275GT 1970 was found in tunnels under the factory. The car was damaged and it was used by employees as a transportation mean in the territory of the enterprise. In July of 2013, the car was sold at an auction at the price of £1400.

Many celebrities owned a Mini. Even Enzo Ferrari had three classic Minis in his garage. According to rumor, the legendary auto maker expressed his opinion about the British small car “If it was not so ugly, I would have fell in love with it”.

During its long history, Mini has got more than 60 special models. These include Anniversary edition, the London collection, special edition on color, unique versions of well-known designers, export-only edition, Cooper, as well as many others.