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The Original MINI
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An icon of everything that is lovable about automobiles and voted as the second most influential car of the 20th century (behind the Ford Model T), we take a quick look at what made the original Mini so instantly adorable and why it will remain a cult classic for years to come
I’ve always loved the original Mini, even though I’ve never had an opportunity to drive one. I always imagined it would be like my old Maruti 800 – a very tiny, basic, front drive car which fits like a glove around the driver, only much better to drive, throw around corners and indulge in the kind of driving malarkey that would generally be frowned upon – a sort of a go-kart with a roof. But the new one has a problem you see.
Though it’s a very good car, it's rather big and though it looks like a brilliant modern interpretation of the original car, somewhere the MINI ethos seems to be missing. And after having driven almost all of the current MINI range in India – the Cooper S, the Cooper Convertible (Read Mini Cooper S & Convertible First Drive) and the Countryman (Read : Mini Contryman Road Test), my disillusionment is complete.
The original MINI on the other hand is the personification of simplicity. What started out in life as a compact, economical car for the masses ended up becoming a cult classic. From race tracks to rally circuits to even the silver screen – it was used to pull off one of the most iconic bank robberies from movie history, for crying out loud (and I mean the dainty little car Michael Caine drove, not the chubby remake of the car Mark Wahlberg drove in the humdrum remake of the movie).
The formula was quite simple – a liquid-cooled transverse mounted four-cylinder under the hood powering the front wheels, just about enough space for four people and some luggage, cheap to buy and cheap to run – and boy, did it run! What it lacked in outright speed, it made up for it in the way it handled, doing the metaphor, “like a go-kart with a roof” (overused to describe the way it drove), justice more than enough times. And this meant, in the 60s, you didn’t have to be a Lord or a film actor with a Jag to have fun on wheels. All you needed was a Mini.
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