Works Rally Mini Cooper S, 1964 Paddy Hopkirk, 1965 by Timo Makinen

Works Rally Mini

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The Mini Cooper has been extremely successful in motor sport with Coopers and Cooper S enjoying overwhelming success in both racing and rallying - the 1275S won 23 rallies for the works between 1964 and 1969. The victories for the Coopers at Monte Carlo are perhaps the most widely acclaimed. In 1964 Paddy Hopkirk first won the great Monte Carlo, followed by another win in 1965 by Timo Makinen. In 1966 there was a disqualification from 1st place and in 1967 yet another victory was recorded. These were the greatest years for the Mini Cooper in competition and the Mini's standing as a legend in its own lifetime was firmly secured.

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Mini Cooper S Mk2 998cc 1967

S Mk2 998cc 1967

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In 1967 the Cooper and Cooper S along with all other cars in the range received the heavier Mk II bodyshell. Changes were light, at the front the grille was redesigned with the top chrome strip being attached to the bonnet and the sides reshaped to give the car a more pleasing look. At the rear the bodyshell incorporated a larger light cluster and a two inch wider rear window. In addition, the Mk2 solved some of the niggly problems associated with earlier models. The use of seat belts had been growing since legislation made their fitment compulsory, but once strapped in to a static belt it was difficult to reach the switches on the centre facia. Mk 2 modifications brought the switches three-inches nearer to the driver. Other definite improvements at the time were a smaller turning circle and twin leading shoe front brakes.

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Mini Cooper Cars: Mk1 997cc, S Mk2 998cc, Cooper Car Co. Works Mini

Mini Cooper Cars

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This guide features several classic Mini Coopers.

Mini Cooper Mk1 997cc

The Mini Cooper was introduced in 1961 and with a 997cc engine and 55bhp it offered a tremendous improvement in performance over the standard car. The two-tone Cooper was otherwise almost indistinguishable from the 850 model, with just the discreet badging and different grille giving the game away. The first of the fast Minis, it was capable of 85mph and 0-60mph in around 17 seconds. In January 1964 the 997cc Cooper was replaced by the 998cc version. Although only fractionally larger in capacity, the engine had been subtly reworked to more balanced proportion and this led to an improvement in torque and tractability.

Mini Cooper S Mk2 998cc

In 1967 the Cooper and Cooper S along with all other cars in the range received the heavier Mk II bodyshell. Changes were light, at the front the grille was redesigned with the top chrome strip being attached to the bonnet and the sides reshaped to give the car a more pleasing look. At the rear the bodyshell incorporated a larger light cluster and a two inch wider rear window. In addition, the Mk2 solved some of the niggly problems associated with earlier models. The use of seat belts had been growing since legislation made their fitment compulsory, but once strapped in to a static belt it was difficult to reach the switches on the centre facia. Mk 2 modifications brought the switches three-inches nearer to the driver. Other definite improvements at the time were a smaller turning circle and twin leading shoe front brakes.

Cooper Car Co. Works Mini

Cooper ran a Works Team in the sixties with cards in the colours of the F1 team (British Racing Green with Snowberry White longitudinal stripes) with the legendary Cooper Car Co on the door tops, and driven by Sir John Whitmore, John Handley, John Rhodes and John Fitzpatrick, amongst others. Competing against other successful teams such as the Alexander and Broadspeed outfits, these thrilling green and white racers were a very familiar sight on the circuits during the 1960s. Later, of course, they were the inspiration for the new generation of Rover Mini Coopers. Towards the end of the 1960s, BMC tightened its belt and took the works-associated teams in-house. Cooper then ran an independent team of Minis in yellow and black racing colours.

Works Mini Cooper S

The Mini Cooper has been extremely successful in motor sport with Coopers and Cooper S enjoying overwhelming success in both racing and rallying - the 1275S won 23 rallies for the works between 1964 and 1969. The victories for the Coopers at Monte Carlo are perhaps the most widely acclaimed. In 1964 Paddy Hopkirk first won the great Monte Carlo, followed by another win in 1965 by Timo Makinen. In 1966 there was a disqualification from 1st place and in 1967 yet another victory was recorded. These were the greatest years for the Mini Cooper in competition and the Mini's standing as a legend in its own lifetime was firmly secured.

Rover Mini Cooper 1.3i

The idea of bringing back the Mini Cooper came from a series of meetings between Rover and John Cooper and on the 10th July 1990 the Rover Special Products or RSP Commemorative Cooper was launched. Intended as a limited Commemorative edition of 1000 (plus 650 for Japan) the new model was inevitably closer to the standard Mini specification than the old Mini Coopers had been. The 1.3 litre unit form the MG Metro was used while the Minilite style wheels were borrowed from the Mini 30 model of 1989 along with most of the interior trim. Finished in a range of two-tone colour schemes, the Commemorative looked remarkably similar to its 1960s brethren and in performance terms was similar to the original 1275cc Cooper S.

Mini Cooper Mk3 1275S

In line with the ordinary Mini Saloons, the Cooper S received the MkIII bodyshell (with concealed door hinges originally introduced i November 1969) in March 1970. The performance and road-holding were still there and it retained hydrolastic suspension, but in terms of appearance the Mini Cooper S was watered down to such an extent that it now looked little different from any other Mini. The two-tone paintwork, a hallmark of the Cooper and Cooper S, had gone and only the obligatory right-hand petrol tank, ventilated wheels and Cooper S badge on the boot lid gave the game away. When the last Mk3 Cooper S rolled off the Longbridge production line in June 1971 it seemed that the Cooper legend was to retire into the history books but dramatically the Cooper was to be re-launched nearly twenty years later by Rover.

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Classic Mini Cars: Morris Mini Minor, Mini Cooper, Wolseley Hornet, Austin Countryman, Mini-Moke

Classic Mini Cars

What is your favourite Mini car?

Morris Mini Minor

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The new Morris Mini Minor was almost exactly the same car as the Austin Seven ( or Austin Mini ), the only differences being the radiator grille, the colour schemes and the fact that it was built at Cowley rather than Longbridge, Super saloons available from 1961, key starts and Hydrolastic suspension from 1964.

Austin Seven

Launched to a dumb-founded motoring press in 1959, the Alec Issigonis designed Austin 7 and Morris Mini Minor introduced a whole new concept in car design. The new cars were more or less instantly referred to as the Mini and seemed to capture the mood of the swinging-sixties, they seemed also to break the class barriers that surrounded British cars in general, everybody wanted to drive a Mini.

Mini Cooper

As the first sporting Mini, the Cooper was recognisable by its grille of 11 horizontal bars, Super-type body trim, remote control gearshift and front disc brakes. Twin carburettor engine gives 55bhp, and with the original 997cc unit (up to 1964) a top speed of 85mph, with acceleration to match. Total production, to 1967 - 44,859.

Austin Seven Countryman

During the first eight years of production, the trim and badging of BMC's Mini was reshuffled from time to time. One interesting new variant, announced in late 1962, was the plain metal-bodied Countryman estate, offered as an option to the "country cottage" wood battened variety.

Wolseley Hornet

Introduced in 1961, the Hornet was basically a BMC Mini fitted with a lengthened box-shaped tail, a distinctive nose, and a more comprehensive trimmed interior. Except for its nose and badging, the Riley Elf was the same as this car. Both Wolseley and Riley versions were given a 998cc engine in 1963.

Austin Mini Saloon

From late-1964, the Hydrolastic suspension system, interconnected front to rear, took over from the rubber cone systems, but only on the saloons, while from late 1965 the new four-speed AP automatic transmission was offered as an option on saloons only. The Austin Super Mini had slightly better trim and a different grille from the ordinary deluxe models.

Austin Countryman

From 1960 the Mini range included an estate car version built on a longer chassis, which it shared with the mini van and mini pick-up. The model was badged as either the Austin Seven Countryman or the Morris Mini Traveller.

Mini Cooper S

The First of the Mini Cooper S types appeared in April, this being one step up from the Mini Cooper., with a special and more robust over-square version of the A-series engine, of 70bhp/1,077cc, and with larger disc brakes. This car was built with motor-sport in mind. Later in 1964 there would be other, even more specialized Cooper S models.

Mini-Moke

Following several years of previews, the Mini-Moke finally went on sale, badged as an Austin or a Morris and fitted with the standard Mini 850 engine, transmission and suspension units. Though based on the Mini's layout, the open-top structure was unique, with four-seats, very low sides and no doors. A rudimentary hood was provided but there were no side curtains.

Mini Cooper S Mk2

The Mini Cooper caught the motoring world's imagination during the Sixties, notching up many Rally victories at the highest levels. Many consider the Cooper S to be the ultimate Mini variant, it originally appeared in 1963 powered by the 1,071cc A-series engine, with the 1,275cc engined S arriving in 1964. 1967 saw the introduction of the Mk II Cooper and Cooper S models, which received the Mk 2 Mini improvements in line with the rest of the Mini range.

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