What's this Mini thing all about?
The Mini was the first properly mass produced car aimed at mobilising the working population. In the light of growing demand for imported bubble cars and soaring fuel prices, BMC (and the British government) wanted a home-grown response.
Germany had the Beetle, France had the 2CV, Italy had the Fiat Topolino and the Dutch got the DAF. Britain was to get the Mini.
Designer Alec Issigonis put together an astonishingly well-packaged four-seater saloon featuring a transverse front-mounted, front-drive engine with integral gearbox in the sump.
The front and rear drivetrain components were mounted on separate subframes and the monocoque steel bodyshell was held together mainly with spot welds. Oddly, the little car was quite spacious inside, as the standard 3.5x10 steel wheels and 848cc A-series motor took up very little room.
The first Austin and Morris-badged Minis were launched in 1959 in the UK but cars were eventually assembled globally in Australia, South America, Africa, Canada and Europe.
When John Cooper convinced BMC to productionise fast Minis bearing his name, from 1961, the lightweight car became very fashionable with the stars. This was because of giant-killing performances in racing and rallying.
The little Mini now had a 'scene' and its patrons included the Beatles, the royal family, film stars around the world as well as many families who had never owned a new car before.
Most early Mini clubs were motorsport derived and the oldest of these is the Mini 7 racing Club which dates back to 1966 and still fields the fastest circuit racing A+ engined Minis in the UK. Since then, many Mini clubs have been started mainly as self-help social groups around the world.
The Mini was one of the first cars to launch a huge DIY maintenance and tuning industry as impecunious owners tried to keep their cars on the road, or tune them, for the least possible money.
Take a look at the national and international club list on this site and see just how many Mini clubs there are around the world.
The biggest Mini shows tend to be in the UK and most of them are organised by Mini clubs (keep an eye on the events list every month in MiniWorld magazine).
Most readers of MiniWorld are affiliated to a Mini club either online or the old-fashioned sort, and we go to Mini events pretty much every weekend to meet our friends in Mini clubs.
Every year the major North American Mini events are Mini Meet East and Mini Meet West. There is also the European International Mini Meeting which happens in a different country every year and comes to England every fifth year.
Motorsport still plays an important part in the Mini scene. As well as the Mini 7 Racing Club, there's Mighty Minis racing in the UK, drag racing, autograss, rallying and classic rallying in UK and Europe. Many countries have Mini racing of different kinds, including Scandinavian countries and Japan too.
Japan was Rover's biggest single market for the Mini for years and the Mini scene there is really big. Some say that there are as many Mini on the road in Japan as there are in the UK. We've had a look and it is a truly impressive Mini scene.
There's no real DIY maintenance in Japan so all Minis are generally maintained by professional Mini garages. They love the early Mini look with Mk1 front grille, rear lights, wing mirrors and 10-inch wheels.
Elsewhere, anything goes when it comes to wheel size, engine size and type. The Mini must be the world's most modified car and the Mini scene is one of the friendliest out there. Join in and be part of the world's Mini family!
