When the best Sports Car in the World is a Grocery-Getter

Today we're looking at the history of the Mini and especially the performance oriented Mini Cooper and Mini Cooper S

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Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing."

[Eric_Hunt]

"It's way more fun driving a slow car fast than driving a fast car slow" -Truly a rule to live by.

[mbryson]

I owned a grandkid of the Mini, an '88 Chevy Sprint Metro. Three cylinders, 48 hp, 12" wheels, 1, 488 pounds wet. My go-kart never beat anything in the straights, but few could hold with us in the twisties, especially on bumpy roads.

If I ever win the lottery my dream car is a Chevy Sprint Turbo; THAT would be a joy to flog!

[mikepapahotel]

My first car back in 1968 when I was 17 y.o. was a classic 1963 848cc Austin Mini.

Five years later I was the navigator in my uncle's 1967 Austin Cooper S, 1293 rally car.

That car turned me into an adrenaline junkie for the next 2 years until we blew up the engine following it's 3rd rebore! 😂

Aahh good times! ☺️👍🏻

[michaelsullivan]

Great video! I was a teen in the late 70’s, when muscle cars were abundant and cheap. While I loved those cars, my friends and I all had an appreciation for the mini.

Got my first chance to drive one (a Cooper S) in 1979. What a blast!

Another non-muscle car that got my respect back then, was the Datsun 510. I kid in my high school had one and I loved it!

[PARSA-POWER]

Honda Fit/Jazz can be quite similar to what Mini was.
Please make a video about it if you could.

[TalenGryphon]

My dad's old supervisor owned an original Canadian spec Mini (so it was actually left hand drive) in British Racing Green. He managed to upgrade the engine and tune it so it was producing around 70BHP. That sucker would FLY. There were 2 sharp 90° turns coming into my dad's work and I remember seeing his boss DRIFT around them going about 40 before entering the parking lot sideways and spinning completely around to back into his parking spot. That's still one of the coolest things I have EVER seen, and it cemented the Mini in my mind as the stuff of legend

[gaufrid]

I got my driver's licence in Australia in March 1975. My first car was a blue with white roof Morris Mini 850. Four speed manual transmission of course. Being an Aussie Mini it had wind up windows. Luxury! Someone rear-ended it while I was going to university, and it was written off. Originally it cost me $425 Aussie dollars, and the insurance paid out that exact amount, so I bought a beige 1963 Morris Mini 850 with sliding windows for exactly the same price. That was pretty much the only difference. Both cars had go-cart like handling, used very little petrol, and were very simple. The first one I owned had a complete brake
failure going downhill when I was driving my youngest brother home from school. I frantically downshifted for engine braking and softly nudged the tow bar of a Mazda 1500 stopped at the intersection at the bottom of the hill. Commonly, Minis would stall in thunderstorms because the distributor was in front of the engine right behind the grille, while the radiator was off to the side. A can of WD-40 was always needed in the driver's side door bin. Ditto a raincoat. My other Mini adventure was really funny. The carport where my second Mini was parked at my parent's house was facing downhill. Mini handbrakes were notoriously bad, so I had put a brick in front of the driver's side front wheel. One morning I forgot to unlock the driver's side door before removing the brick. The car began rolling down the hill with me frantically trying to unlock the door and hold it back. Meanwhile, my youngest brother and sister were in the bedroom at the back of the house looking out of the window and laughing. The car ran down the hill and collided with a tree at the bottom of the yard. That was actually fortunate, because I'm sure it would otherwise have crashed through the back fence and perhaps even run all the way into the culvert heading to the railway line on the other side of the street. My dad managed to repair the damage and he always performed the regular servicing required. He was very familiar with BMC cars as he had owned both an Austin A40 and a Morris 1100. He had always serviced them. Until I bought Suzuki Grand Vitara 4x4s, all my other vehicles were front wheel drive hatchbacks, with the exception of my first new car which was a rear wheel drive 1978 Toyota Corolla coupe. The Mini really was an amazing car.

[BruceLeedar]

FYI Issigonis is a Greek name, so the final s is not silent.

[tomtrebor]

My first car was an Austin Mini Super Delux in which the previous owner had installed a complete 997 Cooper engine, gearbox and front subframe. My best memory of that car is driving down the M3 in pouring rain and flying past a Jaguar E Type that was spluttering along. The look on his face was priceless!

[EcclecticNerd]

The Mini was the first ‘Dream Car’ I had. Never owned one, but all those things I loved about it I found in the world of Japanese Kei cars. A friend who has a classic mini and I were talking and he said that the overall vibe was very similar in both communities. We know they’re not fast or expensive, but they’re fun and that’s all we really want.

[xavierhernandezpena]

Mr. Issigonis along with his incredible design team demonstrated their genius by their fresh and unique approach to car design. Lightness is the key for everything in a car, handling, road holding, braking, nimbless, economy, etc. The entire package must be well sorted and matched. Developing an effective suspension is probably where the greatest challenge lays.

[bluegtturbo]

Just one little error . The morris minor was rear wheel drive.

[simonvancoevorden]

I restored 3 mini Mokes here in Western Australia. Perfect for a sunny climate. My keeper was a mint 1275 Californian enlarged to 1340 cc .

[BatCaveOz]

In 1966 the Mini won outright the Gallagher 500 (later the Bathurst 500)... Australia's premier car race.

Beating V8s and 6s over 500 miles.

[ThinWhiteAxe]

I loved Mini Coopers as a kid and had 2 toy versions of them (both red with a white top). Fascinating to finally learn some history about them!❤

[scottarthurs]

I had two as a young fella, a '74 and a '79 I think. Everybody had the glasspack muffler straight out the center. Got rid of two bends!

[AllenGarvin]

Honda Fit was a totally good sports car! I had one for 11 years. (I'm a Honda loyalist, and my 2011 Fit felt nearly just like my '88 CRX Si. I'm very sad the dropped them from North America. Now I have an Integra which is way too wide and big)

[Volfmech]

Having owned three classic minis in the past, I have to agree, pushing minis to the limit, really teaches you how to handle yourself. And when you feel like you're 4 inches away from the road, even 40mph down a B-road feels brisk. Did find putting a concrete slab in the boot, really helped to plant it in the bends, rather than sliding Hopkirk style haha.

[btrdangerdan]

Mini coopers was my childhood favorite car growing up but grew out of it. I be down to own a classic mini someday

[avtomad]

Big thumbs up Mister! You absolutely nailed it. No-one normally who grew up with a Mini wants to hear an American explain it (and I suspect vice-versa on US cars), I respect you fact-checked the fine details.
I had one around 1999/2000 as my first car in the UK back then we all totally aware that it was very outclassed by nearly everything else. I miss that car, it really did handle like nothing else at the time, and nothing now could have that correct balance of enthusiastic driver involvement mixed with absolute affordability.
Smashing upload, I appreciate the nostalgia re-ignite