What do you think?
Rate this book
Mini: 60 Years
Mini celebrates 60 amazing years of this iconic car, from its revolutionary introduction to the popularity of its new-generation models.
The first two-door Mini, introduced in 1959 and built until 2000, revolutionized automotive design with its innovative front-wheel-drive layout that made the car appear bigger on the inside than the outside. In 1999, the Mini was voted the second most influential car of the 20th century , behind the Ford Model T.
Designed for British Motor Corporation (BMC) by Sir Alec Issigonis and manufactured in England, Australia, Spain, Belgium, Chile, Italy, Portugal, South Africa, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Yugoslavia, the Mini was as successful in competition as it was on the street , winning the Monte Carlo Rally four times from 1964 through 1967.
Originally built by BMC, the Mini’s later parent company, Rover, was acquired by BMW in 1994. In 2000, BMW sold most of the Rover Group but retained the Mini brand. The last and 5,387,862nd original Mini rolled off the production line in October 2000. In July 2001, BMW launched production of the new-generation of Mini which was soon joined by Countryman, Clubman, convertible, Cooper Works, and numerous special editions.
Nearly 20 years later, the new Minis remain as popular as the original from 1959.
The first two-door Mini, introduced in 1959 and built until 2000, revolutionized automotive design with its innovative front-wheel-drive layout that made the car appear bigger on the inside than the outside. In 1999, the Mini was voted the second most influential car of the 20th century , behind the Ford Model T.
Designed for British Motor Corporation (BMC) by Sir Alec Issigonis and manufactured in England, Australia, Spain, Belgium, Chile, Italy, Portugal, South Africa, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Yugoslavia, the Mini was as successful in competition as it was on the street , winning the Monte Carlo Rally four times from 1964 through 1967.
Originally built by BMC, the Mini’s later parent company, Rover, was acquired by BMW in 1994. In 2000, BMW sold most of the Rover Group but retained the Mini brand. The last and 5,387,862nd original Mini rolled off the production line in October 2000. In July 2001, BMW launched production of the new-generation of Mini which was soon joined by Countryman, Clubman, convertible, Cooper Works, and numerous special editions.
Nearly 20 years later, the new Minis remain as popular as the original from 1959.
- GenresNonfiction
176 pages, Hardcover
Published April 30, 2019
4 people are currently reading
33 people want to read
About the author
Giles Chapman
79 books4 followersGiles Chapman is an award-winning writer and commentator on the industry, history and culture of cars. He began his career in 1984 in automotive consultancy, moving into magazine publishing in 1985. By 1991, he was editor of Classic & Sports Car, the world's best-selling classic car magazine. Since 1994, he's worked freelance across a huge variety of media. Today, he contributes to national newspapers and motoring publications, and was voted Jeep Consumer Journalist Of The Year in 2005, BCA Feature Writer Of The Year in 2008, AA Environment Writer Of The Year 2011, and Classic Writer Of The Year in 2022 as well as being shortlisted as the 2022 Royal Automobile Club Journalist Of The Year.
He's the author of almost 60 books including 'My Dad Had One Of Those' (co-written with Top Gear's Richard Porter) that was a non-fiction hardback best-seller in 2007 and has since sold almost 200,000 copies. This makes it one of the best-selling – and most popular – car books of all time.
He's the author of almost 60 books including 'My Dad Had One Of Those' (co-written with Top Gear's Richard Porter) that was a non-fiction hardback best-seller in 2007 and has since sold almost 200,000 copies. This makes it one of the best-selling – and most popular – car books of all time.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 30, 2019
The first time I saw a Mini Cooper was in the 1969 film ‘The Italian Job’. I was 6 years old. The way all those mini cars raced around on screen was so cool! The car really captured my imagination. Growing up in the U.S., I never saw one in person. However, now living in Canada, I have seen a few. In fact, one of our neighbors own one.
If you are curious about this cool mini car, this book is a great deep dive into the subject! It covers just about everything you want to know and more. The photos are excellent and I especially loved reading the history of how the Mini Cooper came about.
‘Mini: 60 Years’ would make a excellent gift for any auto enthusiast!
If you are curious about this cool mini car, this book is a great deep dive into the subject! It covers just about everything you want to know and more. The photos are excellent and I especially loved reading the history of how the Mini Cooper came about.
‘Mini: 60 Years’ would make a excellent gift for any auto enthusiast!
March 28, 2020
Lots of beautiful pictures. Two drawbacks - there were lots of little 2- and 3-page sections inserted in the chapters, breaking the flow of things; plus too much under the hood lingo. I realize both of these issues are stylistic, and might not bother other readers. Overall, glad I read it.
July 22, 2020
More than just a coffee-table picture book, Chapman anchors the story of Mini in the post-war context of the Suez crisis, tracing a path of small motor car history from Ford to Fiat and Volkswagen, to the many manufacturers that would merge to become BMC, the Rover Group and finally BMW's stewardship of the MINI brand.
The pictures and text range from Issigonis's 1958 napkin sketch of the subframe and behind the scenes clay design models, and from vintage advertisements to rally racing scenes. Along the way, you'll meet not only John Cooper, Pat Moss and Ferdinand Porsche but pop-culture icons from Mary Quant to the Italian Job films - wrapping up with a look to the future with the BMW engineered Cooper SE electric.
While there's no shortage of beautiful photographs and illustrations, the lack of a side-by-side montage showing the evolution of the car, depicting the aesthetic continuity with previous iterations is an unfortunate omission. Some tables and charts listing the milestones and myriad versions available over the years would also be welcome, the absence of which is puzzling given the detail afforded to the introductory chapters.
The Reviewer starting up an F60 Countryman.
More critically, I found the flow of the narrative interrupted (often jarringly) with full-page sidebars of a sub-topic, with the middle section losing momentum and trying to cover a number of topics disjointedly. I would've liked to read a dedicated chapter on special editions, instead of seeing a lonely photo of the Highgate convertible, seemingly marooned in the corner of the chapter on the Second Generation BMW MINI.
In closing the book, Chapman chose pictures of the F60 Countryman (perhaps because it's available as a hybrid) instead of the electric Cooper SE, which was not available for sale until well after publication - but there would have been models and sketch-ups to match the text that bookends the 60 year story.
The 60 Years Edition beside a Classic Mini.
Finally, it's a shame the cover doesn't feature a picture of the 'MINI 60 Years Edition' alongside the classic Mini, especially since MINI promotional materials feature the two side-by-side.
While not as polished as it could be, this is a must read for fans.
"In 1961, the Hot Mini arrived and changed the way everyone thought of a compact performance car on road, track, and rally course."
–COOPER'S MAGIC, Pg. 48
The pictures and text range from Issigonis's 1958 napkin sketch of the subframe and behind the scenes clay design models, and from vintage advertisements to rally racing scenes. Along the way, you'll meet not only John Cooper, Pat Moss and Ferdinand Porsche but pop-culture icons from Mary Quant to the Italian Job films - wrapping up with a look to the future with the BMW engineered Cooper SE electric.
While there's no shortage of beautiful photographs and illustrations, the lack of a side-by-side montage showing the evolution of the car, depicting the aesthetic continuity with previous iterations is an unfortunate omission. Some tables and charts listing the milestones and myriad versions available over the years would also be welcome, the absence of which is puzzling given the detail afforded to the introductory chapters.
"Press here for action; a bright red start button was a new focal point of the driver interface."
–MINI RENEWAL AGAIN, Pg. 159
The Reviewer starting up an F60 Countryman.More critically, I found the flow of the narrative interrupted (often jarringly) with full-page sidebars of a sub-topic, with the middle section losing momentum and trying to cover a number of topics disjointedly. I would've liked to read a dedicated chapter on special editions, instead of seeing a lonely photo of the Highgate convertible, seemingly marooned in the corner of the chapter on the Second Generation BMW MINI.
In closing the book, Chapman chose pictures of the F60 Countryman (perhaps because it's available as a hybrid) instead of the electric Cooper SE, which was not available for sale until well after publication - but there would have been models and sketch-ups to match the text that bookends the 60 year story.
The 60 Years Edition beside a Classic Mini.Finally, it's a shame the cover doesn't feature a picture of the 'MINI 60 Years Edition' alongside the classic Mini, especially since MINI promotional materials feature the two side-by-side.
While not as polished as it could be, this is a must read for fans.
June 10, 2019
Mini Cooper has been around for years since 1959 and was sold in different countrys austriala,belgium,africa,Italy,Spain etc the car has become a worldwide icon in so many ways and has been an enthuist car for so many however there are clubs for these cars as well as the newer models like the country club and john cooper works models to name a few these cars have come a long way since the orginal and have kept the tradition alive an well mini introduces numerous models and different model names that the car has become popular with drivers of all ages both young and older. The mini was brought back and has become a highly respected car amoung buyers who want a small sporty and luxurios 4-dr or a 2-dr convertible with a performance package . Quartodrives does a Fantastic Job on all there automotive titles. Quartodrives is the worlds number 1 publisher for high quality automotive titles . Please go to WWW.QUARTODRIVES.COM and order your copy today of Giles Chapman Mini : 60 Years.
October 3, 2021
Love my mini and love all the info in this book. Great read !
September 23, 2024
Minis : )
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews