**The Iconic Mini: A Legacy of Quirky Elegance**

The Mini, a car that has captured the hearts of many, had its roots in the 1930s with English Racing Automobiles (ERA). Rover, the parent company at the time, sought ERA to build a performance-based Mini, reminiscent of the Cooper. Only 436 ERA Turbos were ever sold, and most of them found their way to Japan, making them extremely rare.

In 1994, BMW acquired the Rover group, and development on a new car began immediately. The classic Mini continued to be built by hand until BMW sold it to Ford in 2000. The last classic Mini rolled off the production line using the same methods as before – a testament to tradition.

**The Birth of a New Era**

In 2000, BMW introduced the new Mini Cooper, an unmistakably Mini with round headlights and a signature white roof. Although slightly larger than its predecessor, it was still considered mini compared to other cars on the road. Many purists were initially unconvinced that this was a proper replacement, but the new Mini was an instant commercial success.

As a tribute to John Cooper, BMW revived the Cooper S name for the sporty version of the car. The Cooper S was powered by a supercharged 1.6-liter engine making 160 horsepower, giving it a better power-to-weight ratio than its predecessor.

**The Evolution of the Mini**

Over the years, the Mini continued to evolve with new models being introduced. In 2005, the Mini convertible made its debut, perfect for sunny California but not ideal for rainy Britain where it was born. In 2007, a diesel version was introduced, although it never gained popularity in the states.

In 2008, the Mini Clubman was unveiled, featuring a longer wheelbase for more legroom and a unique baby door on the right side. The following year, the first crossover, the Countryman, hit the market, boasting all-wheel drive, more ground clearance, and an aggressive design.

**A Return to Racing**

The Countryman marked the Mini's return to the rally scene, both in backwoods and rally-cross events worldwide. The roided-out Mini won the brutal car rally four times, making it one of the toughest rally cars ever produced.

**The Crown Jewel: John Cooper Works Model**

The John Cooper Works model is the fastest Mini you can buy, with turbocharged engines making 220 horsepower. They feature functional break ducts in the front to keep brakes cool while tearing up the track. These are true sports cars, embodying British racing spirit.

**A National Treasure**

In 2015, the Mini was voted the most British car of all time, beating out the Land Rover, Jaguar E-type, and even the horse and carriage. No car better encapsulates British sensibility than this quirky economy car.

We'd love to hear from you! If you have a Mini, share your story with us. And if you're a British girl, hit us up – why do we never get any messages from girls?

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- Great Britain, landof the Beatles, Big Ben,the Queen, Queen.It's also home to some ofthe most influential carsever made.Jaguar. Land Rover. Lotus.But one car stands out above the rest.Or should I say below.The most British car of all time.One so iconic that theydidn't change it for 40 years.It's the best sellingicon of British motoringthat changed car design forever.It's also really cute.It is the most British thingsince the queen herself.Ello govner. This iseverything you need to know.Ello govner. This iseverything you need to know.To get up to speed.Oh my God.This is everything you needto know to get up to speedon the mini.Mhm.The mini was built to answer a question.Yo. How do we fit the most stuffin the smallest space possible?The Morris company wanted a carthat was efficient, roomy,small enough to conquer London traffic,and still be fun to blastdown in English B roads.The job was given to Morrisengineer Alec Issigonis.Who had previously workedon the Morris Minor,another icon of British post war design.In 1952, Morris and Austin had mergedto create the British motor company.Issigonis and his teamstruggled to strike a balancebetween a small exteriorand a roomy interioruntil they had a major breakthroughthat would influenceeconomy cars for decades.They turned the engine sidewaysand made it power the front wheels.This little tweak changed everything.The transverse engine mountingsaved room in the engine compartmentwhich made the cabin bigger.Front wheel driveeliminated the drive shaftto the back wheels,allowing for a flat floor,making more rear leg room.Four fully grown adults could fit insidethe impossibly small prototype.Even more impressive that the capacity wasthe cars maneuverability.The wheels were very closeto each corner of the car,which blessed it withincredibly nimble handling.Issigonis was so committedto nailing the driving feel,that Morris converted an air fieldinto a test track justso they could fine tunethe handling.Basically they had the top damn test tracka couple of years beforeJames May was born.Once they had perfected the ridethe prototype was readyfor mass production.While other manufacturers built their carson an assembly line,Morris built their new car on a jig.Welding every piece of body work togetherpiece by piece.The process was slow and meticulous,but it insured qualityfitment all the time.This commitment to precision in miniswould soon become one of thebrand's defining factors.The mini debuted as the Morris Mini-Minorand Austin Seven in 1959.And people went batshit over it.- Whoa! That sounds so familiar.- Bat droppings.- The small stature made itperfect for city driving.And driving it was fun.BMC was satisfied with thepublic's perception of the minias the practical family four seater.But they wanted the littlerascal to be something more.Like when my dad told meI could be so much moreif I just applied myselfinstead of just doing thebare minimum like I always do.Well guess who's on the internet now, dad.So Morris did what any parent would doand signed the mini up for some sports.BMC prepared cars to be enteredin the Monte Carlo rallyin 1961.The race took place in January,meaning the scrappylittle mini has to dealwith icy roads and snow.All while racing with Ferrari and Lotuses.The car did okay.Leading it's class untilsuffering an accidentthat ended the run.It was never gonna win with 34 horsepowerbut while other cars werespinning out on the ice,the mini's front wheeldrive gave it awesome gripin the crappy conditions.BMC and Issigonis knew theywere onto something with thiscool little front wheel drive racer car.Good job you little guy.Good job you little mini.You did so good in Monte Carlo.You did so good in Monte Carlo.I'm very proud of you.I think he's a natural.No one saw the potential betterthan English racing legendJohn Cooper.Why is Cooper such a legend?Oh well nothing huge,he and his dad onlychanged formula one foreverwhen their mid enginerace car won back to backchampionships in the late 50's.Convincing everyone else to go mid engine.Influencing race and roadcars for decades to come.That's it.No big deal.Cooper saw the minis racing in Monte Carloand was like,do you guys really want to win?I can help you do that.And Issigonis was like.Okay chap.Cooper tuned up the tinyengine to make 70 horsepowerand upgraded the brakes.The result was the Mini Cooper S.Ever heard of it?John Cooper and thegang took the mini backto Monico 1964and kicked everyone's (beep)!Then they went back the next yearand kicked everyone's (beep) again!The next year they won again!But they were disqualifiedbecause they hadthe wrong light bulbs in their headlights.Seriously?But mini didn't get discouraged.They came back the nextyear and won again.The repeated success ofthe Mini Cooper provedthat you didn't need tohave hundreds of horsepowerand an Italian name to win races.You just needed heart.So many people were inspiredby the minis rally outingsthat they began to raceminis on their own.Both the mini class leaguesand against other sports cars.The go kart like handlingmade it a force to bereckoned with on road courses.Here's the crazy thing about minis.They were made for over 40 years with likea million engine optionsand little changes here and thereto make them safer.But the look hardly changed at all.To the untrained eye,the classic mini thatrolled off the assembly linein 2000 would be nearly indistinguishablefrom one made in the early 60s.That's how much people love the mini.If it isn't broken don't fix it.Make little changes,you don't need to reinvent the wheel.But this doesn't mean therewasn't some experimentationwith the mini formula.God knows we've all experimented.Hey Chris.1960 saw the introduction of the mini van.Not the mini van, but the mini van.Which was like any otherpanel van of the erabut mini.That same year there wasan estate which is Britishfor station wagon.The estate even had wood trimgiving it the nickname Woody.The next year a mini pickup was introducedwith a bed big enough for like a box.Perhaps the strangest mini everwas the mini moke.And I'm not kidding,this is actually real.It's an off road versiondeveloped for military use.The British army and RoyalMarines took one lookat puny Jeep wannabe and they were likeyou know what, mate? We're good.Lack of military interestnot withstanding,BMC produced the moke anywayand it became a cult classic.But by far the coolest mini variantwas the ERA Mini Turbo released in 1989.This wide bodied performance hatchbackmade 100 horsepower andwas the only classic minito come from the factory with a turbo.It had a top speed of 115 miles per hourwhich actually sounds terrifying.Have you ever driven a mini?It's scary.The car was built byEnglish Racing Automobilesa company that specializedin building grand pre carsin the 1930s.Minis parent company at the time, Rover,wanted ERA to build aperformance based miniin the spirit of the cooper.Only 436 ERA Turbos were ever soldand most of them went to Japan.So they're super dupes rare.In 1994, BMW bought the Rover groupand development of a newcar started right away.Rover kept building the classic miniuntil BMW sold them to Ford in 2000.The last classic mini to roll of the linewas built the same way ithad been built for decades.By hand.In late 2000, BMW rolledout the new mini cooper.The old king was dead,but his son had taken the throne.The mini cooper was unmistakably mini.With round headlights anda signature white roof.Yeah it was a littlebigger than the old one,but compared to other cars on the road,it was still pretty mini.Many minis - Heh.Many mini purists weren'tcompletely convincedit was a proper replacement.But that didn't matterbecause the new miniwas an immediate commercial success.As a tribute to John CooperBMW revived the Cooper Sname for the sport version.The Cooper S was powered bysuper charged 1.6 liter enginemaking 160 horsepower.Giving it a better power to rate ratiothan the original.These things are rad.The block is cast iron,so you can tune the hell out of itwithout worrying about blowing it up.And it handles twisty roadsjust as well as the old one.The mini's like yo, dad,I'm bigger than you.And I'm faster than you.Which is the opposite of me.I am smaller and slower than my dad.Like the mini of old, thebrand started introducingfresh models to expand the brand.You've the mini convertible of 2005which is great for Californiabut not ideal for rainyBritain where it was born.In 2007, mini introduced a diesel versionwhich we never got in thestates because we neverget diesel cars.It's like, hey where's the diesel pump?And the guys like, uh ...Across town.And you're like what.Yeah we don't really importthat many diesel cars over here.So ...2008 gave us the mini club man,which was a littlelonger for more leg roomand had a weird little baby dooron the right side andbarn doors in the back.In 2011, mini unveiledtheir very first crossover.The country man.It had all wheel drive.More ground clearance,and was all beefed up likethat kid in junior highwho went through puberty over summer breakand beat everyone's (beep) now.Darrel I know I used totake your lunch moneybut can we work this out?I'm sorry I'm not a bully anymore.The country man also marked minis returnto the rally scene.Both in the backwoodsand rally cross eventsall over the world.The roided out mini wonthe brutal the car rallyfour fricking times.Making it one of thetoughest rally cars ever.The variation in the mini line upestablished the brand notonly as quirky, noveltybut a legitimate family to choose from.The crown jewel in line up beingthe John Cooper works model.These are the fastest minis you can buy.With turbo charge enginesmaking 220 horsepower.They've got functionalbreak ducts in the frontto keep your breaks coolwhile you're tearing up the track.If you thought mini forgotabout it's heritage,you're dead wrong.These things are real sports cars.I mean it's British racinggreen with red stripes.Those colors don't even match.It's like Christmas race car.That's race car as (beep) man.The mini is truly an icon.The British love this car.In 2015, they voted it themost British car of all time.Beating out the LandRover, the Jaguar E type,and the horse and carriage.No car better encapsulatesBritish sensibilitythan this quirky economy car.All right we obviously missed some thingsso feel free to tell us what.If you have a mini,let us see them.Is the new mini really a true mini?If you're a British girl, hit me up.Why don't any girls ever message us?It's all guys.If you're British, howoften do you say pip pip?Say what's up to the queen for me.We got some more shows going on.We're gonna have a science show,my buddy's Barts hosting it.It's gonna be really funny.And really educational.And as always, like, comment, subscribe,and share. Cheerio.