One of the original brands in the premium segment of small cars has reached its 60th birthday, and yet hasn’t lost its fresh young approach. It was sixty years ago on the 26th of August 1959, that the British Motor Corporation (BMC) proudly revealed the result of their development activities in creating a new, revolutionary compact car.
Right from the start the very first sales brochures proudly presenting the Morris Mini-Minor highlighted the car clear and steadfast orientation to the future. But to what extent these prophecies would really come true, hardly anybody would have believed back then.
Today, sixty years later, we know that only very few car concepts have survived such a long time, and none of them has ever been converted into such a wide range of variants as the Mini.
One of the reasons for this outstanding success is that from the start the Mini met all the requirements of its time, while offering further qualities in the same process. Measuring just 3.05 metres or 120″ in length and selling at a retail price of £ 496, the Mini was simply perfect for small parking spaces and low budgets.
Through its driving qualities and the charming character of its proportions alone, the Mini was however also of great interest to the ambitious motorist seeking not only compact dimensions and superior economy, but also sporting performance particularly in bends as well as individual style on the road.
This blend of different qualities remains as popular today as ever before, with a concept likewise younger than ever. Hence, the current MINI is also more up-to-date and, at the same time, more fascinating and respected than any of its competitors, combining unparalleled efficiency, lasting value of the highest calibre, and incredibly agile handling in the modern mega-city with unrivalled sportiness and design full of expression and quite unmistakable.
As MINI continues to innovate and design highly sough after vehicles, here at Rogue Homme we would like to take this opportunity to wish MINI a very Happy Sixty Years.
Words by Arrnott Olssen
