The great little Mini

One car has been around me for as long as I can remember: the original Mini. For me, it is the only Mini. It was announced to the world when I was five years old and I still drive one regularly. I am also honoured to be involved in its latest guise, the new Wood & Pickett version. So let me take you back to the beginning.

My first recollection of the original Mini was soon after it was launched in 1959. Peering through the windows of our local dealership, I recall a light yellow Austin. Austin Minis being my favourite, rather than Morris and you may recall they came as both. Austins had the ‘fluted’ grille as opposed to the Morris’ less interesting mesh one. This demarcation, albeit mere badge engineering, was important to five-year-old aficionados. Austin, to me, was way cooler than Morris.

The car was born out of necessity of economy and affordability (though it wasn’t that cheap to build) in the aftermath of the Suez fuel crisis and it was a stroke of genius. Engineered by Alec Issigonis, he packaged the engine sideways over the top of the gearbox to save space, creating a car of unique proportions. It was all about the room for occupants rather than the mechanics, yet this drivetrain layout also allowed spirited driving of a kind rarely, if ever, visited upon a car of this kind before.