Beloved by racing drivers, The Beatles, and women in particular, the Mini starred in “The Italian Job” and won the Monte Carlo Rally. Now BMW and a new generation of female designers are keeping this icon forever young.
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00:00 No other car looks or drives like a Mini.
00:04 From affordable cars for everyone to rally icons of the 1960s,
00:09 the little speedster appeals to men and women alike
00:12 and has been winning fans with its unique concept for 65 years.
00:17 They're built to run and they're built to fly.
00:20 There's not a lot of anything in it except an engine, four wheels, a gearbox and off you go.
00:26 Every time I get in this car and drive it round and about I just get the biggest smile on my face.
00:31 When I was in London in the 60s we all used to drive round in Mini Coopers.
00:39 It's stayed a lot younger than I have, I think, and it will continue to stay younger than I do.
00:46 It's a Peter Pan car, it's forever young.
00:50 In the swinging 60s the Mini became a symbol of the flower power movement.
00:56 Even the Beatles drove Minis.
00:58 There's an eccentricity that appeals to those people that like the Mini.
01:07 It is a car for everyone, whether you're a housewife, whether you're the everyday working man or whether you're a rally driver.
01:22 With victories at the legendary Monte Carlo Rally in the mid-60s, the Mini also won over motorsport enthusiasts.
01:29 No car has ever been as loved as the Mini.
01:35 And that's true all over the world. The Mini has captivated all cultures, from Asia to America.
01:46 I got to meet a lot of people from all over the world and there is this little happiness for this little car.
01:52 There's just this, not rebel idea, but just kind of a little bit different way of doing things.
01:59 And right from the start, the Mini was also a favourite of women.
02:08 I think they're cute and I'm all about being cute. I'm a little bit of a girly girl.
02:13 And there's something about it that has this, "Come join me, come, let's have fun."
02:20 As long as I can drive, I'll be in a Mini.
02:22 The British Motor Museum in Gaydon is the magnet for Mini fans.
02:31 Paul Salmer, one of the heads of the International Mini Cooper Register Club, also likes to stop by here to see the milestones in Mini history.
02:40 It was the very first one off the production line in Cowley.
02:49 It was revolutionary really, because it was a small box, 5 foot by 10 foot, and a wheel at each corner.
02:59 So you had a small outer shell, but with lots of space inside, so you could take four adult passengers in it.
03:07 When oil became scarce due to the sewers crisis in the mid-50s, Alec Issigonis was commissioned by the British Motor Corporation
03:16 to design a fuel-efficient car that would offer more than the competition's cheap small cars.
03:27 The easiest way to win a battle of this sort is to make a car that is so unusual compared with all the other cars around it,
03:34 that it automatically becomes a state of symbol.
03:36 And Issigonis did everything very differently from what people were used to.
03:40 The wheels were mounted very close to the corners of the body, which was only 3 metres long,
03:45 and a space-saving suspension with rubber cones replaced the usual steel springs.
03:50 But the most groundbreaking feature was the transverse engine, positioned right above the drive wheels.
03:57 If you think about it, if the engine were longitudinal, it would start here and go from here to there.
04:03 Then there's the fan, the radiator, then the grill. So right away it would be 80 centimetres to one metre longer.
04:14 The efficient use of space resulted in a small vehicle that weighed just 585 kilos,
04:20 and could accelerate pretty fast with its 34 horsepower.
04:24 It was an unusual concept, and Alec Issigonis immediately wowed the whole world with it.
04:31 The creator of the Mini, Alec Issigonis, is also a very eccentric man.
04:40 I might call him an artist as well, because he designs such popular cars with his own taste.
04:52 He does not listen to committees or his boss or something.
04:57 The Mini quickly became a symbol of the social upheaval that began in London in the 60s.
05:03 Its popularity has always been closely associated with the advent of the Mini Skirt.
05:17 The Mini also became a favourite car of the decade's burgeoning music scene.
05:22 The Beatles drove Minis, as did the Rolling Stones.
05:28 And the musicians remained loyal to the car and performed at all the big Mini gatherings for decades.
05:35 As did Paul Weller at Silverstone in 2009.
05:45 It just symbolises the early 60s. For me it does anyway.
05:48 It symbolises the sense of hope and optimism, and it still represents that to me.
05:56 The British Motor Museum in Gaydon also sheds light on another important part of Mini history - motorsport.
06:06 Minis won the Monte Carlo Rally three times in the 60s.
06:11 Mini fan Paul Sorma can admire the original vehicles here.
06:15 The Works Mini won the Monte Carlo in 1967.
06:21 And the driver in the car was Rauno Aaltonen.
06:26 It was a giant killing act, and I think that's part of the attraction of the Minis.
06:31 You know, the underdog beating the big dogs.
06:36 Rauno Aaltonen from Finland was the first to cross the finish line in Monte Carlo in January 1967,
06:43 after a day-long wild ride through the French Maritime Alps,
06:47 in which the little Mini left all the other, much larger and more powerful rally cars in its wake.
06:53 The Mini was headstrong at times, but also so precise to drive.
06:59 You could do things with it that you couldn't do with any other car.
07:04 The car could instantly change direction when you wanted.
07:07 And that meant we couldn't just drive 100% fast, but 110% fast.
07:14 Always too fast on purpose, because humans are a bit pessimistic.
07:20 The successes in motorsport were an important marketing tool for the Mini,
07:26 and boosted the popularity and sales figures of the little speedster immensely.
07:31 The competition side of it made it seem like a racy thing,
07:36 you know, something that's nice to have, you can go off and race in it.
07:40 And then of course later on we had the Italian Job film,
07:44 which showed it in a similar sort of like a cheeky car, driving down steps,
07:49 you know, getting away with the gold, and that sort of got a whole new audience,
07:55 you know, in the world of motorsport.
07:57 And that sort of got a whole new audience interested in the car.
08:02 In the 1969 action thriller The Italian Job, which was remade in 2003,
08:08 thieves steal gold bars and then flee from the police in spectacular fashion in a Mini.
08:14 It became a blockbuster at the box office, especially in the US.
08:22 I think in the United States, really kind of one of the movies,
08:27 and I'm sure people have talked about The Italian Job,
08:29 where they brought these little Minis in, and people saw them and they were so fast,
08:33 and they had fun, and that added to it, I think just the history of seeing it grow,
08:39 literally, and you know, figure figure in the world.
08:44 I think there's just this, not rebel idea, but just kind of a little bit different way of doing things.
08:53 Simply being a little different from all the others,
08:58 the Mini has conquered the whole world with this image.
09:01 There's a strong Mini community, not only in the US.
09:05 The unique small car also has an incredible number of fans in Asia,
09:10 and Mini lovers from all over the world maintain a close connection with one another,
09:15 online and at international Mini meets.
09:19 There's such a strong bond in the Mini community all over the world
09:27 because of the connection of the Mini itself, so it really does open up new relationships.
09:36 I get to meet a lot of people from all over the world, and there is this little happiness for this little car.
09:42 And around the world, women in particular love the Mini.
09:47 In most countries, there are more female Mini buyers than male.
09:51 Wow! Oh, it looks incredible.
09:55 The Mini has always been one of the top brands among women.
10:03 Originally, they were loved by women because it's a nice small size, easy to park, easy to drive around town.
10:09 These are tough little cars. They're simple.
10:12 You know, I've driven some nice cars in my time, but this isn't the fastest.
10:17 It's not the best handling, but it's absolutely the most fun.
10:21 They're just the most fun.
10:23 The car's appearance also plays a role in making it so popular.
10:29 [Music]
10:33 When you look at the front of that Mini, and it's got those big eyes, it just looks like a happy, fun little car.
10:40 I think they're cute, and I'm all about being cute. I'm a little bit of a girly girl.
10:45 And now that I have an S, I've got a little bit more zip on it, so that makes it even more fun.
10:52 And you can take curves, and you feel like you're driving a car.
10:57 You can take curves, and you feel like you're taking that curve at a good pace.
11:04 Not that I speed ever, but it handles so well.
11:08 They told me that nothing is forever.
11:10 And so it's no wonder that a woman, the Scottish pop singer Lulu,
11:14 was at the wheel when the last Mini rolled out of the Longbridge plant in Birmingham in October 2000.
11:21 With the British car industry in crisis, the demise of this icon seemed all but certain.
11:27 But then, BMW took over the Mini brand and launched a new edition of the British cult car.
11:35 And today, many women set the tone in BMW's Mini production.
11:40 Their taste and expertise are particularly in demand when it comes to design.
11:47 One of my favourite parts of the Mini Concept S-Mahn, and actually of every detail of this car,
11:52 would be the neon loudspeakers.
11:54 You can find so many lovely details on the seat, and I especially like the stitching.
11:59 The embroidery details are bright and playful.
12:02 My absolute favourite part in this concept is the no-surprise green textile used for the door handle and steering wheel.
12:11 I'm Christine Zurian from Mini Design.
12:14 We thought it would be a great opportunity to do a small sketch demo and show you the Mini hatch.
12:19 Christine Zurian designed the most masculine of all Mini models, the Countryman, a subcompact crossover SUV.
12:28 And the BMW sub-brand, which was taken to new heights by Stephanie Wurst,
12:33 has produced such cars as the Patmos Mini Edition,
12:37 a tribute to Patmos, who won races with the Mini Cooper in the 1960s.
12:44 Another example of the Mini's strong bond with women.
12:48 I think it's great to see women having an interest in cars and building cars.
12:57 I guess if women are involved in the design and the engineering of it, then maybe it fits women back to you.
13:03 For over two decades, BMW has been continuously developing the original Mini Concept with a wide range of models.
13:10 There's something for everyone, from their workhorse, the Clubman,
13:14 to the Convertible
13:17 and the John Cooper Works hot hatch.
13:22 And when the Mini Cooper Register Club meets in the UK for a drive,
13:28 one question is of course always the subject of heated debate.
13:33 Are the new models from BMW still genuine Minis?
13:40 I think it's not a true Mini.
13:42 You just can't replace that noise that you can hear now, and it bounces along.
13:48 It just flies around every corner.
13:51 It is, I mean, this is just a little go-kart.
13:54 The original Mini was renowned for its go-kart-like handling,
14:00 and they managed to kind of replicate that in the more modern Mini.
14:08 You can have the same sort of feel of the Mini Cooper from the 1960s in that car,
14:13 because I have one as well, so I know, so I can compare.
14:16 We can just really just go right round the corner, a very steep corner, and it doesn't make a fuss.
14:24 So when it comes to handling, the BMW Minis are in no way inferior to their British predecessors.
14:36 The original modern Mini carried over so many of the cues from the original Mini,
14:44 and a lot of character was carried across,
14:51 but in a bigger package, a more modern package, it's good and natural that Mini have gone,
14:59 you know, offering an electric Mini now.
15:02 I think it could suit a Mini very well, because the responsiveness of electric cars would really suit a Mini well, I think.
15:13 Looking ahead, the entire Mini model range is to be electrified step by step.
15:20 And not only that, BMW also wants to make the car with the great history fit for the future in all respects.
15:31 With the development that BMW are doing, there's no reason why they can't keep going forever.
15:37 And so the car will continue and stay young, because it will always be changing.
15:43 Well, it helps me to stay young, that's for sure.
15:49 My very first car was a Mini, I had a Mini when I was 17.
15:54 It's just as much fun today as it was, and I think that's why it will stay young,
15:58 because it's just as much fun. I think if it stays fun, it will live forever.
16:02 It takes me back to being younger as well. I think it is. It's forever young.
16:11 The Mini, a unique phenomenon in automotive history.
16:16 More than a car, it's an outlook on life that simply never goes out of fashion.
16:22 [MUSIC PLAYING]