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European Autohaus Inc. is Tampa Florida's Only Mini Cooper Repair and
Service Specialists
Stop in at our facility at 1105 E. Bearss Avenue or Call 813-615-9444 for
an appointment.
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MINI COOPER
HISTORY
The History of The Mini 1959-2007
1959 The Beginning of
Greatness
The Mini began its public life on the 26 August 1959. Itsdesigner, Sir Alec
Issigonis could not have even dreamed
of the impact hislittle car would have on the world of culture, society and
of course automobiles.
The Mini was designed simply to be an affordable car which could seat four
adults and still be small enough to travel in
safety. Originally powered by 850cc 34bhp engine, this was the Mini in its
purest form, simple, clean and agile.
1960-1969 The
Evolution
Although the Mini saw through six decades it is always the 1960s for which
it will be remembered for. These ten years
saw the Mini go from a 'housewives shopping car' to the must have fashion
accessory, via international stardom on the
rally scene. It took John Cooper, twice F1 World Champion Constructor, to
realize the full potential of the Minis sharp
handling and maneuverability. In 1961 the first Mini Cooper hit the streets,
firstly with a 997cc engine producing a
massive 55bhp, there followed a range of engines for the Cooper from the
rare 970cc Cooper S to the ultimate evolution
the 76bhp 1275cc S, the car which would form the basis for the Works Rally
car. The Cooper S achieved superstar
status when the 91bhp Works spec cars won the Monte Carlo Rally outright
for 4 years running from 1964-1967
(although the Minis were disqualified from the 1966 rally for having faulty
headlamps!) Now that the Mini had proven
itself in front of a world audience, everybody wanted a Cooper, and indeed
everybody who was anybody in the 60s had
a Cooper, from The Beatles and Peter Sellers to Graham Hill and Enzo Ferrari!
Of course they couldn't have any old
Cooper they had to be modified. Companies such as Radford and Wood &
Pickett who made their name tailor making
Rolls Royce's and Bentleys now were turning their hands to Minis, with everything
from electric windows and leather
seats, to wickerwork sides and hatch backs. Thus a trend was started which
has been kept up to this day, meaning that
it's near impossible to find a Mini which hasn't been modified in some way.
1970-1979 The Clubman, need we
say more?
The 1970s is often seen as the dark era of the Mini, various attempts were
made to kill it off, starting with the end of
the Cooper in 1971 to the launch of the Metro. But still the Mini soldiered
on, with just enough people buying it in order
to keep it alive. The launch of the Mini Clubman in the late 60s gave the
Mini a much modernized feel, and although
the design is a case of love it or hate it, it added a bit of variety to
a rather dull 70s Mini line up. The Clubman is
differentiated by the hotdog grill with lights inside the "dog".
1980-1989 The ?
Years
By the 1980s the Mini was starting to die, and in a desperate attempt by
new owners, Rover to keep it's head above
water an alarming number of themed special editions were launched, over 40
different editions were produced between
1980 and 2000. The most successful of which was the Anniversary editions,
an idea which started with the 1100
Special back in 1979, produced to celebrate 20 years of Mini production.
The 80s saw the Mini 25 and 30 birthday
editions, which were undoubtedly integral to the survival of the Mini for
so long.
1990-2000 Rebirth, Death or
Evolution? You Decide
The re-launch of the Cooper in 1990 brought about a much needed revival of
interest in the Mini, particularly in Japan.
The 90's Cooper initially had a 63bhp 1275cc carb engine, then in 1991 had
an injection version of the same engine.
Perhaps the biggest change in the Mini came about in 1997 with the introduction
of the twin-point injection engine with
a front mounted radiator, this engine was introduced as standard in both
the Mini and Cooper models along with safety
features such as airbag and side impact bars in the doors. Along with this
modernization came the 'Sportspack' option
which included 13in alloy wheels, large wheel arches. The final Mini rolled
off the production line on the 6th October 2000.
2001 And
Beyond
The launch of the New MINI produced by BMW in 2001 adds perhaps not a new
chapter, rather a whole new book to
the Mini story. The new MINI currently comes in three models, the standard
MINI One with a 1.6 liter 90bhp Chrysler
engine, the Cooper powered by a 115bhp version of the same engine and the
Copper S adding a supercharger. First
impressions are good, the styling is mini-esque Mini, although the size is
not quite so, nevertheless it drives almost as well
as the original in terms of enjoyment, but is far better for long distance
cruising. Overall while the New MINI is a far cry
from Issigonis' original design, in my opinion it is a great car. (copyright:
Mark Malaczynski)
The MINI Cooper is small two-door,
four-passenger car produced by BMW as a modern version of the original
Mini, now offered in both coupe and convertible versions. In the late
1950s, Alec Issigonis designed a small
car that would accommodate four adults and their luggage. On August
26, 1959, the MINI was born, produced
by the British Motor Corp. Production in 1959 was only around 20,000
cars but by 1962 BMC turned out over
200,000 cars per year and went on doing so for the next 15 years.
The first MINI Cooper debuted in 1961 and
by 1990 MINI became part of the Rover Group. BMW purchased the Rover Group
in 1994 and the first BMW-
produced MINI Cooper went on sale in the spring of 2002. The MINI Cooper
Convertible was added for 2005,
and the second-generation Cooper was introduced in 2007.
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