MINI History

Serving as the solution to an existing oil crisis, the chief designer of the British Motor Company crafted the first Mini in 1959. The little car (sold under the Austin Mini and Morris Mini names when first introduced) was fuel-efficient, offered commendable handling capabilities, and provided plenty of room for four passengers thanks to the transverse layout of its engine. To cap things off, the original Mini, dubbed the Classic Mini, sold for less than $800. During the 1960s, racecar driver John Cooper added various tweaks to the car, including wider tires and beefier brakes, with the end result being the Mini Cooper. A subsequent round of upgrades gave birth to the Mini Cooper S. The Classic Mini was sold in the U.S. between 1960-1967, discontinued in 1968 when stricter safety standards were enacted.

During the years that followed, Mini soldiered on in other markets with updates and additional variants including a Mini pickup and the first Mini Clubman, but ultimately the Rover Group (of which Mini was a part) was purchased by BMW and the assets liquidated. The last of the original Mini cars rolled off the assembly line in late 2000. To outsiders, this might've looked like the end for the iconic brand, but there was a new Mini car in the works. The new BMW Mini partnership led to the development of the modern Mini Cooper, a BMW-designed front-driver that returned to U.S. shores in early 2002. The larger Mini Cooper Clubman arrived for the 2008 model year, and the Mini E, an electric version of the Mini Cooper, was made available to roughly 500 drivers in 2009.