Mini Cooper

Mini Cooper

The main reason that the Mini Cooper came out was because of the fuel shortage in 1956 that was caused by Suez Crisis. When the gas was high & the big cars weren't selling, the "owner" / head guy of BMC swore that he was going to get rid of all the gas guzzlers in the UK & manufacture a "proper miniature car". He then came up with some basic requirements: the box should be 10 x 4 x 4, the passenger side of the car should only take up about 6 ft, and engine would have to be an existing unit, & the Mini Cooper Rims, of course, had to be nice.

Mini Cooper

The fabrication & manufacturing of the Mini was shown to the public in the April of 1959 & by that August, more than a thousand cars had been made & sold. The name "Mini" wasn't the original name for the car; it was actually Austin & some of them were named Morris. The first name came from a guy named Austin Seven & the other name from Morris Mini-Minor in Australia. One of the very first models of this car is on display at the National Motor Museum in Hampshire.

Mini Cooper

There was a car named the Mark Mini II that was manufactured with a brand new redesigned grille & I think it also had brand new designed Mini Wheels. That grille stayed on the car from that point on & the Mini Cooper Rims just enhanced as time went on. There were a lot more changes on the car that included a bigger & wider rear window.

Mini Cooper

The Mini did so well that they eventually made a Mini Van and a Mini Truck. I don't really see the difference, I guess they're just bigger? Anyway, John Cooper - who was the owner of the company - recognized the potential that Mini Cooper had. Issigonis didn't really want the car to be a fast performance car, but after meeting with some designers, they all came to a compromise & came up with an inexpensive & economical car.