In Pictures: 50 Years Of The Mini

Published by djmick on August 26th, 2009

50 Years Of The Mini Gallery

50 years ago today the the British Motor Corporation launched the now iconic compact car, The Mini.

The Mini Mark I had three major UK updates: the Mark II, the Clubman and the Mark III. Within these was a series of variations including an estate car, a pickup truck, a van and the Mini Moke — a jeep-like buggy.

The Mini Cooper and Cooper “S” were sportier versions that were successful as rally cars, winning the Monte Carlo Rally four times from 1964 through to 1967 and of course made famous by the movie The Italian Job.

When production of the classic Mini ceased in 2000, BMW (the new owner of the brand) announced the successor to the Mini – which is variously called the “BMW MINI” or the “New MINI”. The brand name for the new car is MINI (written in capital letters).

On 3 April 2007, the one millionth MINI rolled out of the Oxford Plant after six years of production, just one month longer than it took the classic Mini to reach the same total in March 1965.

In 1999 the Mini was voted the second most influential car of the 20th Century, behind the Ford Model T.

So to celebrate the cars fiftieth birthday, here’s fifty pictures of the little car – although some aren’t so little such as the stretched limo Mini.