• 9 months ago
An entertaining documentary celebrating the iconic Mini, presented by radio DJ Mike Sweeney. In this fast-moving celebration of one of the world's motoring icons, we investigate what made this ten foot long wonder such an important part of culture and history. Men & Motors also traces BMW's involvement in creating the new Mini. Meet owners and customers of the unique machine that has delighted us for over 60 years.

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Transcript
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01:37 >> Hiya, and welcome to Mini Magic, our celebration of a simple but brilliant idea, which turned out to be a worldwide sensation.
01:46 In this program, we're going to be looking back at how they packed so much into so little space, even with 1950s technologies.
01:53 Why the Mini, both classic and new, has taken to motorsport like a duck to water, plus how it can be chucked around like anything by stunt drivers.
02:02 We're going to look at some incredibly beautiful customizations, as well as some bizarre and rather fruity ones.
02:09 And it's not just the Brits who are mini mad. We're going to visit the mini maniacs in the land of the rising sun.
02:16 We'll also see how this little car has been celebrated in an even littler form, because the Mini is one of the most popular scale models ever.
02:24 Also in this mini special, we'll trace the story of how BMW has improved and adapted the original Mini concept to become another generation of success in the 21st century.
02:37 We're going to be featuring all this and more in the next hour, so fasten your seatbelts.
02:41 That's of course if you have them in your mic one minute.
02:44 And let's ask the first question, just why was the original Mini magic for so many different types of people?
02:51 The Mini was completely revolutionary. The engine was a different way around, the gearbox was a different place.
02:55 The idea of a wheel at each corner made the car so stable and the handling was absolutely superb in its day.
03:03 This was a sensation at Pace World Motoring and gave its name, the Mini, to so many other things. Mini skirts, Mini cameras, Mini everything else.
03:11 It's the most efficient, effective, economical package for moving four people from A to B that anyone had ever come up with.
03:20 It's just a fantastic little car. It's timeless, it's ageless. It still looks as good today as it did 40 odd years ago.
03:26 I learned to drive on a Mini and Mini's been with me throughout my motoring life.
03:30 Parts are so easy to get for it and it's such an easy car that you can sort of fix and work on in your garage, which is a bag of spanners. There's nothing you can't do with a Mini.
03:37 So let's nail down the Mini history lesson. Back in the 1950s, car makers were terrified that the Suez fuel crisis would really put the squeeze on their products.
03:46 So the race was on to create really efficient cars. Designer and engineer Alec Issigonis, famous for his back of cigarette packet creations,
03:56 was obsessed by the idea of getting four people and their luggage in a car no longer than 10 feet.
04:03 Of course, there were those little bubble cars putting about. The boss at BMC wanted to create a quality rival.
04:10 Alec, he said, there's too many of these bloody little Watson cars on the road. And these tiny little micro cars were suddenly everywhere.
04:18 Everybody wanted a little Trojan or a BMW. I said, a bubble car. And he said, we must do something about this.
04:24 And that's what the Mini was originally designed for. And it succeeded. Alec Issigonis was seen as a brilliant visionary, but also as a potential loose cannon.
04:32 He came to me, said, would you do me the pleasure of joining Alec Issigonis as his assistant? Quite frankly, he said, I'm rather scared of his ideas.
04:44 But we've also got to give thanks to chief engineer Jack Daniels having parking problems with the Mini prototype at Longbridge.
04:52 If he hadn't been sneaking into the boss's space, the Mini may never have happened.
04:57 For a while, I got away with it. One day, as I happened to be going towards the car, I think, Lord happened to spot it.
05:07 What's that bloody thing doing there? The rest, folks, is history.
05:15 The world is growing smaller, busier, more glamorous.
05:21 The world is growing more crowded because more people are determined to get from one place to another, whatever the effort may cost.
05:28 Even the air is becoming a congested area. And all this crowding raises an apparently insuperable problem.
05:35 This one, this family knowing all too well what it means waiting for a bus.
05:42 The British Motor Corporation took this problem as a challenge.
05:45 They realized that what such a family needed was a fast, safe, low-priced car that was fun to drive.
05:51 Big enough for all of them, yet small enough to get about this shrinking, crowded world.
05:56 The problem for the designers really boiled down to getting everything in a box, measuring 10 feet before feet before feet,
06:03 of which 80% had to be given over to passengers and luggage.
06:08 Now that would leave only two foot for the powertrain. Two foot! This was a car that was going to work with a lawnmower engine.
06:16 But then came the Issygonish brainwave.
06:19 He came to the conclusion that if he turned the engine from its normal four and a half position to a sideways position,
06:27 then there's more room to bring the passengers up there.
06:31 The boldest step of all, placing the engine across the car, the crux of the revolution.
06:36 This is a copy of the original press pack. It was Morris Mini 8 Minor 815, goes right back to 1959.
06:43 And what it shows, fascinatingly, is that Sir Alec Issygonish had a different take on the 80/20 rule.
06:50 He believed that 80% of the car should be for the driver and passengers and only 20% for the powertrain.
06:56 Issygonish was a genius. He created the car of the century.
07:00 This car has just been voted by the world's leading car journalist, the car of the 20th century.
07:06 You know, he's given us 40 years of pleasure. You know, and it's still carrying on now.
07:11 It was, of course, a radical design. It had a transverse engine with front wheel drive, gearbox under the seat,
07:17 and had incredible road holding facilities.
07:21 Next, a compact front wheel drive was decided upon.
07:24 And he also obviously had views on air conditioning, which together with the sliding windows,
07:31 showed the air slipping gently in through the front and quite easily through the rear.
07:35 So on August the 26th, 1959, the Mini was born.
07:39 Although it wasn't actually called a Mini at the time.
07:42 BMC was formed in 1952 as a merger of Austin and Morris.
07:47 So it was launched as both the Austin 7, spelt like the caption, very weird,
07:52 and the other version was the Morris Mini Minor.
07:55 The intended, right from the word go, the only basic difference was the radiator grille.
08:00 Prototypes of all the components were made and assembled into a handmade body, and the first tests began.
08:06 There are special instruments so that the test drivers can check performance and compare careful notes.
08:13 You don't pull up for petrol very often in a car that does something like 50 miles to the gallon, even at a steady 50.
08:20 But what interest the incredible 7s created at garages where they did stop,
08:24 back at the factory, careful check is kept on how each component stands up to treatment far more gruelling
08:30 than any they would ever encounter at the hands of an owner driver.
08:33 Oh yeah? They obviously didn't know how much I thrashed my Mini.
08:37 And the road tests go unremittingly on, weaving through bootlaced byways in Britain,
08:43 and blazing along the interminable ribbon of a German autobahn.
08:47 No motorist in his senses would flog a car the way these test drivers thrashed the new baby prototypes, deliberately.
08:54 Oh yes I would!
08:55 66 miles an hour, 70, and faster, 72, 3, 4, 75 miles an hour.
09:03 Surprising the lives out of the motorists, they whipped past.
09:07 Something tells me that this shot of the Mini overtaking the Beatles was oh so slightly staged.
09:12 What do you think? Well the man who was in charge of the Mini's launch was Tony Barle,
09:17 who now runs an event management company in central London.
09:20 He was the undisputed ringmaster of the whole Mini launch circus.
09:25 I was given the exciting responsibility of launching this car, and I was just 23 at the time.
09:32 I walked in and they said we're going to show you something rather unusual young man.
09:36 And they pulled back the curtain and there was the Mini.
09:39 And they said what would you do if we gave you the responsibility for launching this car young man?
09:45 And when I put myself off the floor I said well, could you let me have £500?
09:51 And they said £500? That's more than the car is going to be sold for.
09:55 What are you going to do with £500?
09:57 I said well with £500 I'd like to build a giant top hat.
10:02 So launch day came, I made the top hat open, and there against the black top hat and the white silk lining
10:09 was this beautiful, beautiful, gently coloured Mini.
10:13 And inside the car I'd put, unknown to everybody, three of the biggest men,
10:17 two ladies, one of whom was my wife, a baby who was my eldest son, two giant poodles,
10:23 all the luggage you could possibly imagine, and all this had been crammed inside every compartment you could possibly imagine.
10:29 And the huge pile of luggage, and here it is shown on the newspapers of the day.
10:35 It was a novel and unique car, it deserved a novel and unique launch,
10:42 and I think we turned the whole format of product launches, which are now the norm,
10:48 on its head at that time by the launch of the Mini.
10:51 When the Mini was launched it caused an absolute sensation.
10:55 And of course the other big car companies, and especially Ford, were kind of having a bit of a dull moment,
11:01 like why didn't we come up with this idea?
11:04 And so the baby Austin moves into full production.
11:07 It has passed all its tests with distinction.
11:11 Here all the latest tools for speedy assembly are in use.
11:15 And here's the start of a fascinating process that will gratify any motorist,
11:21 adding years to the potential life of his car.
11:24 The welded body goes into the rust-proofing rotor dip.
11:27 Blimey, this machine looks like something cooked up by Wallace and Gromit.
11:31 A rotating rust-proofing what? But it does look impressive.
11:35 The first Minis were full of wonderful idiosyncrasies.
11:39 The battery was in the boot to save space up front.
11:42 There was a starting button on the floor, and there was a full-width parcel shelf with just a simple speedo and a fuel gauge above it.
11:50 The door handles were really simple affairs. Just pull the wire, and why have bulky window-winding gear when sliding windows work just as well?
11:59 Plus the boot lid was designed to have extra luggage strapped to it,
12:03 and the number plate was hinged at the top so it could still be read by PC Plod.
12:08 And on the road, an excellent ride was assured by Sir Alex Moulton of Moulton Bike fame,
12:15 who devised an independent suspension system based on, would you believe it, rubber cones.
12:21 The rubber cone needs only a little damping, which gives it quite exceptional endurance.
12:25 Do you know, gang, no matter how much we admire the classic Mini, you've got to admit that the design wasn't perfect in all areas.
12:32 Sentimentality aside, the original Mini had loads of design glitches.
12:37 They rust like billiard.
12:39 I mean, they can't un-horn at the time, but the design means that there are several water traps in the Mini.
12:45 I mean, in the early days, you used to drill holes in the floor to let the water out, not let it in. It got so bad.
12:51 The distributor cap and the plug leads were right in the front of the engine, right next to the radiator grill, where all the rain kept coming in.
12:58 So the dampness of the rain, the splashing against the distributor cap, made the plug leads short.
13:04 But it was cured by devising the equivalent of a rubber glove that fitted over each of the individual plug leads.
13:11 The classic Mini has always had its faults. You know, the heat, either because it's freezing cold or boiling hot and burns your shins.
13:16 You get used to the smell of petrol as you're in the car driving around, which is a normal thing.
13:20 So when you then drive in a car that doesn't smell like that, you think something's wrong.
13:24 I remember being stopped by a motorcycle policeman outside Riceless one day, and he said,
13:28 "The reason I've stopped you, sir, is you notice it's a wet road and your car's making four lines on it."
13:34 Because the subframe was twisted at the back and it used to cram along the road.
13:38 They kind of like it when things go wrong, because it's kind of that British determination to actually, you know, keep on soldiering on in your Mini.
13:43 I suppose that loving the classic Mini is a bit like loving your partner. You know what I mean, don't you, lads?
13:48 She's always leaving the toothpaste cap off and she washes the shirt that you've only had on a million times, but you still love her anyway.
13:54 If you have a fault with a Mini, it's just a Mini thing.
13:57 Now listen, gang, we're going to take a short break now. Join us soon for some wacky Mini customisations,
14:03 our homage to the Italian Job movie, and how BMW have taken the Mini concept forward for the future.
14:09 But before these sensational cars in full production were announced to the public,
14:21 BMC demonstrated them to the press of the whole world. Such was their confidence based on sheer performance.
14:28 These new cars are sensational. The most sensational car ever made here.
14:34 Amazingly, even though the press went bananas, the general public were a little wary of the Mini's innovative design at first.
14:41 Only 20,000 were sold in the first year of production, even though the car was remarkable value for money.
14:48 It's always said that Aston Martin has never made any money out of the Mini, literally a few pounds per unit.
14:54 In fact, I think Ford claimed they were losing £30 on each car.
14:58 It had huge publicity start, principally because in a very bold move,
15:03 they actually gave the 50 top motoring journalists a Mini to drive for a year.
15:09 This was just about the first time that an outright bribe had been given to the British motoring press, you know.
15:15 We wanted to encourage the press to be part of this exciting new step into the future
15:21 and also to involve the people who were manufacturing the car so that they would feel proud.
15:26 Another aspect that helped the success of the Mini was the introduction of the Mini Cooper in 1961.
15:33 John Cooper's son, Mike, is now in charge of the works here in Sussex
15:37 and he knows the enormous impact of that original breakthrough design.
15:41 The classic Mini obviously was a revolutionary design.
15:46 And of course at the time, when you think that the Mini was a saloon car, but it handled like a sports car.
15:52 So it was ready to take on the world.
15:54 And of course in the rallying, being front wheel drive was such an advantage in the icy and snowy conditions of the Alps,
16:01 particularly in the Monte Carlo Rally.
16:03 The Mini's design made it unnatural to be adapted for competitive motorsport.
16:08 Obviously in development with John Cooper and everything that he did with the car, it became a real success.
16:12 The Mini must have one of the most comprehensive motorsport pedigrees of any car.
16:18 It was rallied, it was circuit raced, it was one of the mainstays of rallycross,
16:23 which is actually a combination of off-road and tarmac racing created specifically for television.
16:30 Very young people can start very early with cheap motorsport because of the Mini.
16:35 It's a cheap car to run and to modify, it's fantastic.
16:39 We entered the car into the Monte Carlo Rally and it won it.
16:42 It won the race, it won the Monte Carlo Rally because it was so practical.
16:46 The wheels sat close to the ground, it could corner and it had wonderful acceleration.
16:50 This is Norman Grimshaw from Cheshire who was in the British Vita Racing Team in the 60s
16:54 and now has success racing historic touring cars in several Cooper S's of the period.
17:00 Mini is good at motorsport for various reasons.
17:03 The crowds enjoy the David and Goliath Act.
17:07 So we're racing against Ford Mustangs, Lotus Cortinas, GT Alphas
17:13 and on a twisty track, especially if it's damp or raining, a Mini can really sort them out.
17:19 To make a Mini handle, we deliberately make it oversteer
17:23 so that as you point the nose into a corner, the rear end comes round
17:28 and you can get the power on very, very early, which makes it wonderful through the corners.
17:32 Now the big cars, certainly the big old historic cars, like your Mustangs, like your Cortinas,
17:37 are rear wheel drive, they can't get the power down as quickly as we can.
17:40 The Mini astonished everyone as to how much space there was inside.
17:44 It was a very, very clever package.
17:47 But what about all that luggage? Can they get it in?
17:50 If you look at the original footage of the advertising material that BMC put out on television,
17:57 it always showed a family of four and all the picnic hamper and the luggage
18:03 and everything that they could get into the car.
18:06 The door pockets, the pockets in the rear, the boot under the rear seat, under the front seats,
18:11 in the front pocket, there was loads of room. But it was a little cramped, I must say.
18:16 We always had a roof rack, always, always had a roof rack,
18:19 because there was no boot space and no carrying space.
18:21 Yes, they'll pop underneath too.
18:23 The front shelf is big enough for handbags and there are the door pockets too.
18:28 Although it looks like a small car inside, it used to take more than a room full of equipment,
18:33 soon from college in that time, stacked to the roof.
18:37 And we're off.
18:38 But for one Mini lover who wanted to store his car inside his holiday flat in France,
18:44 it wasn't quite Mini enough.
18:46 It was only when we got down there, and here's the photographs of us getting into the flat,
18:52 that I found that the car is wider at the front than the back, and nobody had told me that.
18:57 I'd measured it across the back of the car and found out that it would fit through the doors that I'd got in,
19:04 the pair of entrance doors to the flat.
19:06 We opened the doors, we reversed the car back and crunch!
19:10 But we eventually, cutting a little bit more, a little bit more, cheese pairing,
19:14 we finally got it done and reversed the car into the flat.
19:16 And if you look in one of these other photographs, there's the car actually in the middle of the living room.
19:21 At least the size of the Mini made it manageable to work on, even in an average home.
19:26 And I rebuilt the engine in my kitchen, I rebuilt the gearbox in the hall,
19:33 and the clutch housing was propped up at the bottom of the stairs.
19:36 My wife was deeply distressed about the whole thing.
19:38 And then I put it all back together again and bolted it all up,
19:41 and then discovered that the whole unit was too heavy to lift.
19:43 So I got two of my mates round, and just as we were staggering backwards through the kitchen door,
19:48 my foot caught on the edge and I tripped.
19:51 And the whole thing came down on my foot.
19:54 And there's one place in the world where small is beautiful, and that's Japan.
19:58 And guess what? They love the Mini.
20:00 In Japan, they've got a tiny, packed island with huge financial disadvantages if you've got a big car.
20:06 So the 10-foot Mini has gone down a storm with our Japanese friends,
20:10 who got introduced to the car thanks to a problem of what to fill empty cargo ships with.
20:16 When the boats were going back to Japan, Mr. Botner, who was running Nissan Datsun in those days,
20:23 decided to fill the boats up with old Minis.
20:27 And of course, suddenly there was a lot of old Minis being sent into Japan,
20:31 and the little car, they wanted something British.
20:34 They wanted anything that was sort of Mini. Mini skirt, Carnaby Street.
20:37 And it really went down a storm in Japan.
20:40 Did you know that in Japan, not only do you see Minis everywhere, there's even a fanzine called Mini Freak,
20:46 and we caught up with the editor.
20:48 Our magazine circulation is about 30,000, so there must be as many Mini Freaks in Japan.
20:56 When I first saw Mini, it was a long time ago.
20:59 I was still a student, and I bought my first Mini. I just loved every one of them.
21:05 In Tokyo, they loved the Mini so much that to celebrate the new model,
21:10 they opened up the so-called Studio Mini Complex,
21:13 including an art gallery, a showroom, a bar, and a restaurant.
21:17 I wonder if they serve Mini portions.
21:20 The Japanese Mini Cooper owners belong to the Japanese register,
21:24 and we took the chairman out for his first spin in a new Mini
21:27 to get his impressions around the streets of Tokyo.
21:30 Very German car, I think, basically.
21:35 Because I know the BMW.
21:40 I had four or five BMWs, including an M3.
21:46 So I know what is a BMW.
21:49 But design, it looks like Mini.
21:53 It's no wonder, you know, that they went Mini-mad in Tokyo.
21:56 This little car was designed for the mean streets of London.
22:00 Even jam-packed London's no real problem.
22:03 You thread your way through the traffic with complete ease.
22:08 Weaving through the heaviest of traffic with the ease of a motorbike.
22:15 And away you go.
22:17 Now, do you know the great thing about having a Mini
22:19 is that there's so much you can do to adapt the car to make it your very own.
22:23 There was a huge aftermarket to change your Mini.
22:26 So the switches were within reach, but you could have long switch extenders.
22:31 We used to put bits of plastic tube on the ends of the switches
22:33 so you could flick them up and down.
22:35 And then you had seat bracket extenders,
22:37 and that shoved the seat right back against the back seat.
22:41 There was no leg room for anybody else.
22:43 And then you could take a hacksaw and saw through the bottom of the seat frame
22:46 and it dropped onto the floor, so you were just like a Mini racer.
22:49 And if you really wanted to push the boat out, you can just go for it.
22:52 This Mini is a 4x4 Mini. It's based on a Suzuki Jeep.
22:56 It's got a Mini on top of it, and it's four-wheel drive.
22:59 It was like a jigsaw puzzle, and the parts didn't fit.
23:02 They weren't meant to fit.
23:04 So it was overcoming how to fit the clutch from a Suzuki to a Mini
23:07 and the wiring and all sorts of complications like that.
23:11 The handling. You imagine a Suzuki Jeep on acid. It's wild.
23:16 As for Mike Cox, parking's now even easier in his Mini.
23:21 Well, it started off as a Mini City.
23:23 Paid 50 quid for it. Big crash damage in the side.
23:28 So since then, with looking for ideas, something to do,
23:32 cut 18 inches out the middle of it, stripped it completely, rebuilt everything.
23:37 You get a lot of people pointing and staring, obviously, when you're in traffic.
23:40 Out on the motorway, even, people slow down.
23:43 And as you may have guessed, a car like this does tend to have a name,
23:45 and this one's Mini Mini.
23:47 The Hunter's Mini was a 21st birthday present, and over the last 10 years,
23:51 he's added a new stereo, of sorts.
23:54 I stripped out the interior and started transformation into a rolling sound system, really.
24:00 It's what it is today.
24:01 The first thing I had to do, basically, was get rid of the rear seats.
24:04 The back seats were replaced with a box-section alloy frame
24:08 for the subwoofer enclosure to go into.
24:10 You get every response from, "You're a god," to, "You're an idiot."
24:14 And a very feminine customization has been created with this Mini.
24:18 The number plate is the only thing that's left of 1968, so everything is brand new.
24:23 It's totally my car. It's got my custom bits on it,
24:26 from lights to the color of the paint, and it's just a lovely car to drive.
24:31 I've gone for the pink neons because they just show up so well against the blue paintwork,
24:37 and I've even got, like, tops to matte.
24:40 [MUSIC]
24:42 But if we wanted to see a very curious Mini customization,
24:51 check out this motorized fruit.
24:53 This is a Mini. This is a 1972 Mini built for one purpose, promoting the product.
24:59 It is a hugely different car.
25:01 It's a Mini Jim, but not as we know it.
25:03 It's a novelty car, but it's not much novelty when you're driving it.
25:07 It's slow, it's horrible, and you really, really don't want to speed up too much
25:11 because huge high center of gravity.
25:14 You could run the risk of rolling if you have to hit the brakes too suddenly.
25:18 Yeah, it's a Mini, but it's not very appealing.
25:21 We parked it here because it ran out of juice.
25:24 I didn't want to take it on the road because everyone was taking a piff.
25:27 Well, it may be an orange, but at least that's one car that's no lemon.
25:33 The Mini, both classic and new, is such a brilliant car for customizing just the way that you want it.
25:38 And Mini Sport at Burnley in Lancashire is one of the biggest outlets
25:42 with ideas galore on making your Mini stand out from the crowd, both in looks and in performance.
25:49 The aim of the company now is to keep this superb little car,
25:54 the car of the century, of the 20th century, going as long as possible.
25:59 Everything that anybody could ever want for their Mini.
26:02 On the Cooper here, we've changed the interior completely.
26:06 A total redesign of the seats to make them a lot more sporty, a lot more comfortable as well.
26:12 This is one of our modified cylinder heads that we've just taken off the shelf, ready to go out to a client.
26:16 We've gone with the silver handbrake handle and a matching gear knob.
26:19 To complement the performance engine, we do a full range of performance exhausts.
26:23 We've done a range of aluminium bezels.
26:26 It is designed to adjust the suspension on a Mini.
26:29 You adjust it as high as you want or as low as you want.
26:32 The classic design rally lights on the front.
26:34 We've used the classic Cooper S Monte Carlo winning and taken that design.
26:38 These will fit on the tunnel, underneath the heater.
26:41 They're a beautiful addition to any car.
26:43 Anything and everything.
26:45 What great customisation ideas.
26:47 And do you know, if you've got a classic Mini, you may be a little sad that they don't make it anymore.
26:51 But we know of a place where they've got many of the machines from the original production lines
26:56 to help keep those classic cars running.
26:58 It started back in 1979, as part of BL as was,
27:03 with the concept of making sure that parts were available for owners of older cars.
27:08 The person who's got a rusty old Mini like this one, which is not particularly good and he's not proud of,
27:14 he can get a new shell, repaint it in a different colour if he wants to, or the same colour,
27:19 and make it into almost a new car.
27:21 Exactly his car.
27:23 We focus mainly on the difficult to make parts.
27:26 Sheet metal parts, components, wings, doors, boots, panels, bonnets.
27:31 These are all the original assembly jigs as used at Smithson's in Birmingham,
27:36 right from the first Mini build, body build.
27:39 I think there is no such thing as a typical customer, except in their enthusiasm for the product.
27:44 In this bay here, we're building the subframe, the Mini rear subframe,
27:48 which is the second most critical part on the vehicle.
27:52 And as you can see, it's made from totally original componentry, right down to the MOWOG nameplate.
27:59 I was fortunate enough to be an Austin apprentice at Longbridge, before the Mini was launched.
28:04 And I even met Alec Issigonis at one time, which was a major privilege.
28:08 Here we have three completed Mini body shells.
28:11 There are two Mark IVs and a Mark V.
28:14 They're painted at Longbridge in the original plant and process.
28:20 In October 2000, the production of the original Mini ended,
28:23 with almost 5.4 million cars having rolled off the line.
28:28 So how did BMW get involved in the design of the new Mini?
28:32 Well, of course, they bought Rover.
28:34 And in 1995, they'd started work on the then-called E50 project.
28:40 Then this curious ACC30 concept came on the scene.
28:44 Was this going to be the shape of the new Mini?
28:46 Really, the ACC30 was an MGF, because it was a mid-engine car, and it was only a two-seater.
28:53 So it wasn't really going to be the world car, but as a design concept, it was a very pretty little car.
28:59 Then in 1997, on the eve of the Frankfurt Motor Show, BMW called a press conference.
29:05 And guess what popped out on stage for our cameras?
29:13 We were sat in that audience, and we were absolutely flipping gobsmacked.
29:18 This was the first chance of seeing the final concept that BMW had been working on.
29:23 Is this a taste of the new Mini?
29:25 This isn't a taste of the new Mini, Sonia.
29:28 This is the new Mini.
29:30 This is the real thing.
29:32 This is truly a worthy successor to that great tradition that Sir Alec Izzigoni started some 40 years ago,
29:40 when he designed the original Mini.
29:43 I mean, if we come round the side here, as you can see, the car is absolutely unashamedly sporty.
29:49 And we're really proud of that.
29:51 And in fact, it turned out to be our last chance of seeing it for quite a while.
29:55 After the presentation, the Mini drove off that Frankfurt stage with no more photos, and definitely no touching.
30:04 We had around four long years to wait until the new BMW Mini was revealed in its full production form.
30:11 It was bigger, chunkier in every way, and looked drop-dead gorgeous.
30:16 Hiya, I'm Mike Sweeney, and welcome back to Mini Magic.
30:30 The reason that BMW had taken so long from concept to production with the new Mini
30:35 was that nothing could go wrong with this project.
30:38 Too much was at stake.
30:40 This was more than a car, this was an icon.
30:43 But even though it had all the distinctive design cues of the original Mini,
30:49 some of the car's fans felt it really wasn't the same thing.
30:53 When the new Mini launched, we had a bit of a dilemma on Mini Magazine.
30:56 What we tried to do very much in the initial photographs and launch press releases coming out
31:00 is to stay neutral and say, "Our readers aren't stupid, they can make their own minds,
31:04 but we'll give them the facts and let them do that."
31:06 The new Mini is not old Mini. It's a different car, it's a bigger car.
31:10 It doesn't have quite the same sort of grasp on a generation that the original Mini had.
31:16 The new Mini's a great car, but let's get it right, it's not a Mini.
31:20 The same way that the Beetle is not a Beetle, it's just a golf in a party hat.
31:24 I don't honestly feel it should have the word Mini, because it's a BMW at the end of the day,
31:29 but it's a nice car to drive.
31:31 But we mustn't get all nostalgic about this.
31:33 The new Mini has been an enormous success, and nobody can take that away from BMW.
31:39 I would say they confused what we're trying to do with this car.
31:42 No one ever replaces the original Mini. It was an icon.
31:45 I've got to say, I think it's a shame that a few classic Mini owners have poured scorn on the new model,
31:50 refusing to recognise the new German design.
31:53 I don't think it's a nationalistic thing.
31:55 After all, if we're going to split hairs about this, we've got to remember that the original designer, Sir Alec, had a German mum.
32:01 Live and let live. There's room for both of us, and I'm glad that when I'm driving my Mini,
32:06 old Mini owners give me the occasional flash of the lights and a wave, which is nice.
32:09 So let's just admire the team that's tried so hard to keep the spirit of the classic Mini,
32:15 and embody it in a new, safe, comfortable design that's going to keep the legend going for at least another 40 years.
32:22 I'm a classic Mini fan, and I'm also a fan of the new car, because I'm a motoring fan first and foremost,
32:26 and I love cars, and I think that the new Mini is a cracking car.
32:29 Some people would say that the BMW Mini is not a real Mini.
32:33 My question to them would be, what is a real Mini?
32:36 The BMW Mini has all the handling characteristics of the original Mini,
32:40 so really it carries all the charm facts that the original one had.
32:43 You couldn't possibly design a car to go in the original dimensions of the original car,
32:49 because of all the safety configurations and restraints that are put on manufacturers these days.
32:55 It drives in the same way, sporty, like the old one, but it's an adult now,
33:01 you have all the safety features on board, and you have more space,
33:06 and all the comfort of today's up-to-date car.
33:09 Now there's only one little thing that I wish they'd carried over from the old Mini.
33:13 The new Mini has an astonishing retro interior,
33:16 but wouldn't it be brilliant if they'd brought the old green flashing start back?
33:21 The new Mini comes in three petrol-driven flavours,
33:24 the one, the Cooper, and the Cooper S.
33:27 But if you fancy even more power under your pedal,
33:30 Mike Cooper has a works kit that you can get an astonishing 200bhp out of your Cooper S.
33:37 But how does he do it?
33:39 Together with the supercharger and the cylinder head, we changed the ECU programming.
33:43 This is done for fuelling and ignition, and the final element really is the exhaust system.
33:48 A new exhaust system which maintains the correct back pressure,
33:52 but also gives a great noise inside the car, and a fantastic noise outside.
33:57 Every conversion comes with its own unique engine plate,
34:01 you get your own engine cover, and of course the badging,
34:04 that subtly tells everybody that you're driving something special.
34:07 The fact that John Cooper Works has been with BMW all the way with the new Mini,
34:12 has now paid dividends with events like the exciting Cooper Challenge.
34:16 We thought, well let's get back into motorsport,
34:18 the name Cooper is obviously synonymous with motor racing,
34:21 and we really wanted to get the new Mini back on the racetrack,
34:24 and try and sort of copy some of the fantastic success that the old Mini had,
34:29 and still has to this day.
34:31 So we decided to get a one-make series together,
34:34 they can then go racing at the weekend,
34:36 and most people drive them to the circuit, and hopefully most drive back.
34:40 Now the classic Mini's heyday coincided with the release of one of the greatest films ever made,
34:45 Cue dodgy Michael Caine impression.
34:47 Hang on lads, I've got an idea.
34:50 It starred not just Michael Caine and Noel Coward,
34:52 but three very cheeky little Mini Coopers.
34:55 Matthew Field from Bournemouth is the author of the definitive book,
34:59 detailing the making of the Italian Job.
35:02 I can remember my dad sitting me down when I was five years old to watch it,
35:06 and I was completely engrossed in watching these Minis race downstairs,
35:09 through sewers, you know, across buildings.
35:12 And did it actually go upside down in the tunnel? You know, nobody actually knew.
35:15 Troy Kennedy Martin wrote the script with the Mini in mind,
35:19 because he said it was cheeky, it was fun, it was lavish,
35:21 it's what the new Britain was all about at the time.
35:24 We know Rivera, but do you know no one's heard of it outside Britain,
35:27 including the Italians.
35:29 At one point, and you're not going to believe this,
35:31 Minis were not going to feature in the Italian Job at all.
35:34 It was going to be Fiat 500s.
35:37 Not a lot of people know that.
35:39 What you will know is that there's a new Italian Job movie out.
35:42 It begins in Venice, and it's all about Charlie Croker and his mob doing a heist.
35:46 One of Charlie's guys had double-crossed them,
35:49 and he takes all the gold back to Los Angeles.
35:52 So the plot of the new film is about how are they going to get the gold back off these people,
35:56 and they plan the heist, and they do it,
35:58 and there's obviously an escape through downtown Los Angeles with the Mini Coopers.
36:02 I do feel the film, it's strange to call it a remake,
36:06 because of course it's got no connection with the original film apart from the title, really.
36:10 What I can say about the film is, though, that the Minis in the film will be absolutely fantastic.
36:15 But the daring stunt exploits by the Mini Coopers in the original Italian Job
36:19 are recreated these days by the legendary Russ Swift
36:23 at various shows around the UK and throughout the world.
36:27 He shows us how to do a bit of nifty J-turning and parking with millimetres between the cars.
36:34 Well, Russ and his team have discovered that the new Mini is just as brilliant for performing eye-popping tricks.
36:41 The Italian Job film inspired a young PR executive to recreate some of the scenes,
36:53 as well as raising money for charity.
36:56 It all started back in 1990 when I came back from university.
37:00 I was at university in Italy, and we decided we wanted to try and do something for children in need that very first year.
37:05 Being a hard-up ex-graduate, I had no money and a £15 Mini.
37:09 So we decided, a group of friends and myself, that we would take our Minis,
37:13 there was about three or four of us, over to Italy, to this town of Trento in north-east Italy,
37:17 and we would re-enact a few scenes from the famous Italian Job.
37:21 It didn't start yet, but now Frederic's baby has grown into a massive yearly event,
37:26 and has raised millions over 13 years.
37:29 Because of the benevolent nature of the event, we get access to some fantastic city squares in Italy.
37:34 We're very fortunate to get in there.
37:35 We get access to roads up in Aosta, for example, where scenes from the film were shot.
37:40 We get the roads closed for us, because again, we're raising money for children's charity.
37:44 We go to Turin, for example, onto the rooftop test track, which was in the film,
37:47 and that's now a wonderful hotel.
37:49 We stay at the hotel and we actually take our cars around the rooftop test track.
37:52 There are Minis everywhere on one of Freddy's jaunts,
37:54 with all sorts of people volunteering to raise cash.
37:57 All sorts of cars, every conceivable shape and style and colour of Mini.
38:00 We've had Mokes, pick-ups, vans, Clubmans, Estates.
38:03 If you'd like to take part in the next Italian Job Run with your Mini,
38:06 check out this website for further details.
38:09 But, if you'd like to celebrate the movie nearer to home,
38:12 there's now a regular event in London for fans of the Italian Job.
38:16 Where the original film ended, literally with the gold hanging in the balance,
38:19 this event picks up from there.
38:21 So, the story being that the gold is now back in the hands of the Italian Mafia.
38:25 The key element to the whole blag is to rescue Fingers,
38:29 who's managed to sidle over the wall.
38:32 Fingers isn't a big lad, so it's quite a large wall for him.
38:35 As soon as we're out on the road, in convoy, six Mini Coopers tearing across London,
38:38 and over to Wormwood Scrubs, where Fingers is over the wall
38:43 and away with the package that contains all of the instructions that they need for the event itself.
38:48 To crack the code that the Mafia have put into the terminal,
38:51 we need to shoot around London, picking up numbers.
38:54 Those numbers form the password.
38:56 Open up the PDA, we get the location of the gold.
38:59 The organisers give you helmets, clobber and tools to do the heist.
39:03 Everybody's really encouraged to get into the spirit of things,
39:05 so everyone has walkie-talkies.
39:06 We have the blue boiler suits with the baseball bats for everybody,
39:09 just in case things get a bit tasty.
39:11 People are just stopping, staring, wanting to know what's going on.
39:14 There's just a real buzz.
39:16 It's a car that brings out the devil in you.
39:18 It makes you want to drive faster than you really should be,
39:20 and it's perfectly tailored for the job.
39:22 I've seen everything now, it's incredible.
39:24 Our story comes right up to date here on the Isle of Man,
39:27 the location for the launch of the latest Mini variant.
39:31 It looks about the same from the outside,
39:33 but there is something under the bonnet that's never been seen before inside a Mini.
39:38 A diesel engine, and why not?
39:40 More diesels are being sold in the UK than ever before,
39:44 and it's right to offer the consumer the choice.
39:47 Istygonis might have been quite impressed with the diesel,
39:49 because obviously the Mini was developed in response to an oil crisis,
39:52 so you never know, you might have been quite impressed with it.
39:54 It's a nice car to drive, actually.
39:55 It's very quiet, which surprised me.
39:57 The turbo comes in at start-off, so there's no lag there,
39:59 so it's quite a smooth car to drive.
40:00 The problem for BMW was that although the body of the new Mini was bigger than the old,
40:05 they just couldn't find a powerful diesel engine small enough to fit under the bonnet.
40:10 We looked 18 months without any result.
40:13 One year before the Yaris went into production,
40:17 Toyota offered us to use the Toyota engine.
40:21 But with a bit of adaptation, the diesel engine from the Toyota Yaris fitted well,
40:26 thanks partly to the battery being shifted back under the boot.
40:30 A very nice retro touch there.
40:32 Plus, the diesel version takes the six-speed gearbox from the Cooper S.
40:37 It's very comfortable if you are able to shift into sixth gear
40:41 and to lower the revs below 2,000 rpm.
40:45 One way that emphasises how much we all love Minis is by walking into any model shop.
40:51 We visited the Corgi Heritage Centre in Rochdale
40:54 to see how the Mini has been immortalised in miniature.
40:57 As far as the model world were concerned,
40:59 the various manufacturers were quick to catch on and started producing Minis in model form.
41:05 If anyone's thinking of starting a model Mini collection today,
41:08 really, they're going to be sport for choice
41:10 because there's Minis available from probably as low as 50p up to 500, 600 pounds plus in model form.
41:17 Dinky did a particularly nice Mini from, I think, a TV stewie called Stripey the Magic Mini.
41:22 That is particularly rare.
41:24 In fact, across the time, things that have been done for TV and film,
41:28 like the Italian job, the Beatles psychedelic Mini, etc.,
41:32 have proved very, very popular as far as collectors go.
41:36 Now, whether it's for sport or for posing, the Mini has been great for both.
41:40 And testament to this is the fact that there are 469 Mini clubs today in the UK alone.
41:47 Here's a lovely example we found at Bule of a 1965 Radford Mini.
41:53 Ron Radford had a company which completely converted Minis.
41:56 One thing they did to make it much more unusual was to cut away the back of the car above where the boot lid is
42:03 and allow the back seats to fold flat in order that you have, like, an estate effect,
42:08 which is what they call a Radford hatchback.
42:10 But extra storage came in very useful for a certain Mr. Ringo Starr,
42:14 who used his Radford Mini to cart the Beatles drunk it around in.
42:18 If you want to see what you can really do with a Mini, check this out.
42:22 I think the Mini, as said by many, is a timeless classic.
42:25 It has a personality of its own that no one can quite put their finger on.
42:28 It means something special to everybody in their own special way,
42:32 and Minis have been converted in many different ways across the world.
42:35 Red Bull's got around 2,000 of them across the world now,
42:39 and they just, consumers react to them in a wonderful way. It's a great car.
42:42 The problem with having a giant drinks can welded to your Mini is that it's a bit of a problem in high winds.
42:48 All the Minis are converted in Austria by a company called Lagomax,
42:52 and basically we take out the boot and the back seats of the Mini,
42:55 and they're converted into a fridge, because what we're looking for is actually,
42:59 rather than a promotional vehicle, a mobile cooler.
43:02 And the new Mini is a great canvas for body customisation, just like the classic.
43:08 Look at these fantastic paint and transfer jobs from America.
43:12 Mini USA pays tribute to the dukes of hazard in this eye-catching design.
43:18 This one, in the patchwork colours of the classic TV series, The Partridge Family.
43:23 This Mini is in honour of stunt rider, Evil Knievel,
43:28 and I guess the distinctive white stripe gives this one away.
43:31 Yep, it's what Starsky and Hutch would drive if they were patrolling the mean streets today.
43:37 Listen gang, I really hope that you've enjoyed our little celebration of this remarkable, classless piece of automotive engineering.
43:44 Before we go, let's round up the reasons why this little car has made such an enormous impact on our world.
43:51 It's unique for a car to survive for 40 years in production, and still give pleasure to so many people today.
43:58 There are something over half a million Minis around the world, somewhere, someplace.
44:04 I think the Mini was a car that introduced more women to motoring, because it was small, it was nippy.
44:08 It was quite a fun car, and it was probably more accessible to them than the big, lumbering cars their dad had driven or their husband was driving.
44:14 Front wheel drive, an engine mounted sideways instead of lengthways,
44:18 a car designed with tiny wheels close to the ground, hugging the corners as it went round.
44:25 A car that looked endearing, and it does.
44:27 The reason this car is such a cult, and the reason people think so much about it, is because it embodies the last time that the rest of the world will turn its gaze on Britain.
44:38 The mid-60s, when Britain led the world in music, design, fashion, photography, film.
44:46 When the rest of the world looked at Britain and said, "Yeah, we like this stuff."
44:51 All the stuff that's coming out of Britain, and the last time that people were allowed to come through and become world famous,
44:57 whether it be David Hockney, David Bailey, Mick Jagger, Mary Quant, all those people, Terence Stamp, Michael Caine.
45:04 For the first time in Britain, working class people could aspire to reach the very top in what they did.
45:11 We will always return to the time when this car was born, because it was the most creative time in this country that there's ever been.
45:19 Look, we're right out of time, so thanks for watching. I'll see you soon. Take care, and take care of your Mini. See you. Ta-ra.
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