Well the real Mini has been immortalised forever in the classic Michael
Caine movie "The Italian Job" (1969) and this gets shown on TV at prime time
every Christmas on BBC1 and everyone in Britain knows the famous line "Your
Only Supposed To Blow The Bloody Doors Off" and although I've seen this film
hundreds of times since I was 5 or 6, the getaway with the Mini Cooper S
never fails to blow me away, I mean the stunts are exceptional and the
Mini's just look so damned awesome and appealing that even in centuries
time, people are going to say how amazing the Mini was and so was 1960's
culture in Great Britain.  After all we had it all back then and it's all in
the film, we had the greatest cars like the Aston Martin, the E-Type Jaguar
and of course the Mini Cooper S (well the Mini changed the face of motoring
forever as it was revolutionary, was the first truly classless car and most
cars today are based on it's technology and we took on the world and won in
Motorsport with the Mini Cooper S), our music was changing the world with
great bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Kinks and The
Pink Floyd etc etc (I apologize if I forgot any others, but there are so
many!) and we had the best fashions too with the Mini-Skirt which was
created by Mary Quant who had a Mini car too and there was a Mini Designer
Limited Edition named after her and there was Carnaby Street fashions which
most youngsters wore around the world back then too!

So yes the real Mini will be remembered and celebrated for it's greatness
too and today there are so many hatchbacks on the road which try to emulate
the real Mini's appeal, but none come close to capturing that great package
or have the style or the pedigree/history that the real Mini has.  Okay many
criticize the Mini for failing to give the many companies (most were British
until BMW came along in 1994, but okay they were constructed overseas too,
well Longbridge couldn't cope with the demand and some countries like Italy
and Australia etc built them from scratch with locally sourced components)
that owned it over the years any real profit.  But the way I see it is with
the real Mini, we never had it so good for so long as we had a real little
bargain with the Mini and there'll never be another car quite like it again,
well there never was another car quite like it before anyway and it
continued to sell even after a so called replacement was launched in 1980
originally called the MiniMetro (yes new Mini?  We heard it all before!),
because there really was no other car like a Mini and it was and still is
the ultimate car to learn to drive in, drive to the shops or into town or
the city in, or just hammer along a twisty bumpy road or in my case up/down
and across Welsh mountains, yes once you've owned one it's probably easier
to give up nicotine or heroine!  So yes even though other manufacturers were
launching smallish hatchbacks like the Ford Fiesta, Renault 5 and other
stuff, the Mini didn't become outdated or old fashioned because of the
reasons I just mentioned, plus of course it handled like nothing else on
earth, especially when it wears 10" wheels.

So the Mini will never be forgotten, sadly it's name is being ripped off at
present and other manufacturers are trying to copy that Mini appeal/image,
but the real thing will always shine through and people will still be
talking about it after they've invented flying cars no doubt!  And I imagine
someone will make a Mini fly too, but then they did that in "The Italian
Job" (1969) anyway?

Okay I've waffled on enough now, but the Mini was rightly voted "greatest
car of all time" by a leading motoring journal back in the 1990's and it got
voted as the "greatest European car of the 20th century" only beaten to the
world title by the Model T Ford production line concept, (well okay the Mini
probably wouldn't exist without that to be fair I suppose) in a world vote a
few years back.  So yes BMW's effort has a long way to go and will be
forgotten in time, much like the so called 2003 remake (or different story,
same name) of The Italian Job".  Well it's pretty much forgotten in Britain
anyway as like I said the original and best is still shown every Christmas!

Taffy

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Hi,
You are so absolutely right. The Mini has it's place in motoring history as
have other cars in their time. Although the Mini was not the first car with
front wheel drive, it's time in the evolution of the car decreed that it was
the turning point which led to almost ALL major manufacturers realising that
this was the way to design future cars. There are so very few manufacturers
now who stick to the traditional system of front steer, rear drive, and
those who do, use this system for practical reasons. This is only one of the
reasons that the Mini is an icon in the history of the motor car, and owners
of other makes should bear this in mind when they criticise the Mini and
their owners. Many modern cars would not even exist in their current form if
it was not for the pioneering eforts of geniouses such as Issigonis and John
Cooper. The Mini was designed and created by a genious, modern cars are
designed by computers; perhaps this explains why they are all the same with
no character and certainly very little history and heritage. The Bini has
it's place, but only as a modern hatchback, and the only thing that it
carries on from the Mini and it's heritage is the name, and that was only
bought with hard cash at the expense of  one of Britains oldest car
manufacturers. The history and heritage earned by the Mini will live on for
many years yet, and will have pride of place alongside such icons as the
Ford GT40, Sunbeam Talbot, and a few others which earned their place in the
history of the motor car.

LONG LIVE THE MINI

Keith
(Although I have owned, enjoyed, and earned my living with Minis for over 40
years, I do not have one now for various reasons. I compensate by collecting
model Minis, of which I now have over 500)