Official Release Small car, huge win: it is now 50 years since one of the most spectacular victories in the history of international motor sport. On 21 January 1964, the Mini Cooper S won the Monte Carlo Rally for the first time. It was the pairing of Northern Ireland’s Patrick (“Paddy”) Hopkirk and his co-driver Henry Liddon that pulled off the big surprise, resisting the supposed superiority of significantly more powerful rivals in their small British car. Its faultless run over country roads and mountain passes, ice and snow, tight corners and steep gradients laid the foundations for the underdog-turned-giant-slayer to cement itself in both the hearts of the public and the annals of motor sport legend. Indeed, the classic Mini’s dominance of the Monte Carlo Rally continued over the years that followed, Hopkirk’s Finnish team-mates Timo Mäkinen and Rauno Aaltonen adding two further overall victories – in 1965 and 1967 – to the British manufacturer’s collection.

Now 80 years old, Paddy Hopkirk’s eyes still light up when he recalls the driving qualities of his winning car: “Although the Mini was only a little family saloon, technically it had a lot of advantages. Its front-wheel drive and front-mounted transverse engine were a great advantage, and the fact the car was smaller and the roads were ploughed, they were quite narrow, so I suppose that was an advantage. We were very lucky – the car was right, everything happened at the right time and came together at the right moment.”

It was the legendary “Night of the Long Knives”, the penultimate stage of the Monte, which put the Mini Cooper S with car number 37 and the now famous licence plate 33 EJB on course for victory that winter of 1964. Hopkirk crossed the finish line just 17 seconds off the pace set by his chief adversary Bo Ljungfeldt in the far more powerful V8-powered Ford Falcon. The handicap formula at the time – designed to even out the weight and power differences between the various cars – meant the classic Mini actually led the way in the overall standings. And Hopkirk defended his advantage in the sprint through the streets of Monte Carlo that rounded off the rally. At the winner’s ceremony he shared the cheers of the crowed with his team-mates. Timo Mäkinen’s fourth-place finish and Rauno Aaltonen’s seventh overall set the seal on the success of the Mini Cooper S and ushered in the era of the “Three Musketeers” in the Monte Carlo Rally.

The classic Mini’s victory was celebrated with particular excitement in its native Britain. Hopkirk received a congratulatory telegram from the British government and the Beatles were also among those leading the applause. “I got a telegram from the Beatles,” remembers Hopkirk. “That was followed by a photograph of the four of them autographed to me saying: ‘You’re one of us now, Paddy.’ And it’s very nice to have that nowadays.”

The triumph of the classic Mini in the Monte was lauded as a sensation by motor sport fans around the world. But this wasn’t a success that came entirely out of the blue: the small car developed by Alec Issigonis, then Deputy Technical Director at the British Motor Corporation, possessed an inherent sporting talent from birth. The first person to spot this potential was John Cooper. The sports car designer was the driving force behind construction of a more powerful version of the car. The Mini produced only 34 hp at launch, but its front-wheel drive, low weight, wide track and comparatively long wheelbase made it an extremely agile four-seater and paved the way for its forays onto race circuits and rally courses.

As early as 1960, big-name racing drivers like Graham Hill, Jack Brabham and Jim Clark were spotted testing the cornering flair of the John Cooper-tuned small car on the Silverstone Formula One track. However, the classic Mini was most at home in rally racing. Patt Moss, sister of grand prix driver Stirling Moss, piloted it to wins in the Tulip Rally and Baden-Baden Rally in 1962. And by the following year, the diminutive British car was ready to burst into the public consciousness at the Monte Carlo Rally. Preceding years had been a tough learning experience for the works team, but now they would make people sit up and take notice. Rauno Aaltonen and Paddy Hopkirk drove the 55 hp Mini Cooper to a 1-2 finish in their class, which was good enough for third and sixth places overall.

It was clear that the classic Mini was better equipped than any other car to pull off the classic David vs Goliath act. John Cooper had long suspected that the car had what it took. Back in 1959 he instructed Roy Salvadori to drive a prototype to the Italian Grand Prix in Monza. The journey itself turned into a race between Salvadori and fellow racing driver Reg Parnell at the wheel of an Aston Martin DB4. The result confirmed what Cooper had foreseen in his mind’s eye: the Cooper-prepared classic Mini arrived around an hour earlier than the much more powerful Aston.

Identifiable from a distance with their tartan red bodywork and white roofs, the six small racers dispatched by the BMC works team for the Monte Carlo Rally in 1964 were – at least on paper – fighting against the tide once more. The Mini Cooper S lined up at the start for the first time. Its new four-cylinder engine now had an increased 1071cc capacity and output had also been boosted to around 90 hp. This was a lot more than in previous years but still modest in the face of competition from the likes of the Mercedes-Benz 300 SE and Ford Falcon, whose six-cylinder and V8 units had three or four times more power at their disposal.

The 33rd edition of the Monte Carlo Rally began – as was traditional at the time – with a nod to the origins of the event, the cars starting from nine European cities before converging on the French city of Reims. The Hopkirk/Liddon partnership got their journey with the Mini Cooper S under way in Minsk, while for Rauno Aaltonen and Tony Ambrose the Monte adventure started in Oslo, and Timo Mäkinen and Patrick Vanson set off from Paris. The classic Mini successfully negotiated all these journeys and all six works cars were able to take their place in the 277-strong field in Reims. The first stage of the rally to Saint-Claude brought together the two cars which were to define the 1964 Monte from start to finish. Bo Ljungfeldt roared to the top of the time sheets in his Ford Falcon, but Paddy Hopkirk remained hot on his heels in his Mini Cooper S.

The next leg of the rally was made up largely of mile-long flat-out sections, but Hopkirk refused to let his big-engined rivals build up a decisive advantage. The “Night of the Long Knives” would become the day of reckoning; this was the classic Mini’s chance to demonstrate its talents to the full. “It was quite snowy that year, so we had done a lot of practising and preparing,” explains Hopkirk. “The Mini was particularly good downhill, and all the tests were up and downhill, so what we lost going up, I think we made up for going downhill.”

Irresistible handling, correct tyre choice, Hopkirk’s gifts at the wheel and the snow – which slowed the bigger cars down – all came together and ensured that Hopkirk was able to take over the lead on the 1,607-metre (5,270 ft) Col de Turini. However, it remained a tight contest all the way to the finish, with Bo Ljungfeldt, as expected, again posting the fastest time on the final stage through Monte Carlo. However, Hopkirk was also squeezing everything from his Mini Cooper S once again and hung onto his advantage to wrap up the win. “It’s not like rallying today when you know where you are. I had to do the final circuit, then the journalists told me I had won and I couldn’t believe it. It surprised the world and us, so it was very nice,” recalls Hopkirk.

The following year Timo Mäkinen and co-driver Paul Easter ensured the classic Mini would retain its title. They were helped by a new engine with capacity increased to 1275cc, but it was the Scandinavian’s driving skill that landed the decisive blow. Mäkinen was the only driver to remain penalty-point-free throughout the rally distance, despite the fact that the 1965 Monte Carlo Rally was providing one of the most exacting tests in the history of the event. Epic levels of snow and ice made the going seriously tough, but that didn’t stop the organisers including a second night stage through the Maritime Alps in the programme. Mäkinen and his Mini Cooper S appeared impervious to the deteriorating conditions. The Finn won five of the six special stages on the final leg of the rally and finished the event with a handsome margin over the second-placed car.

The most impressive and also most dramatic Monte Carlo Rally for the “Three Musketeers” was to follow in 1966. Mäkinen, Aaltonen and Hopkirk dominated the event from the start, and it was in this order that they completed a clean sweep of the top three positions overall at the finish. Public enthusiasm for the quicksilver classic Minis appeared to be boundless – as was the disappointment when the French race commissioners revealed their decision to disqualify the trio on account of lights that allegedly did not conform with official regulations. This was also the reason given for removing the fourth-placed Lotus Cortina from the classification, which meant that the Finnish Citroën driver Pauli Toivonen was crowned the winner.

The dream of a Monte hat-trick lay in tatters, but the “Three Musketeers” resolved to return at the earliest opportunity. In the winter of 1967 Hopkirk, Mäkinen and Aaltonen lined up alongside two other BMC works teams for the Monte Carlo Rally. And this time neither the rules nor the other cars could stand between the Mini Cooper S and victory. Rauno Aaltonen was joined by Henry Liddon – Paddy Hopkirk’s co-driver from the successful 1964 Monte – for his latest assault on the rally. The Finnish-British team clicked straight into gear. Aaltonen guided the classic Mini to what was this time an undisputed victory with 12 seconds to spare. And nobody was more pleased for the duo than Hopkirk: “Henry Liddon was really an outstanding co-driver. But the co-drivers never got enough credit, you know. They did a fantastic job in reading the notes and they were the office manager of the car.”

Hopkirk finished the 1967 Monte Carlo Rally in sixth place and also drove the classic Mini to fifth overall the following year. Aaltonen was third in 1968. However, the era of the small car that stormed to the summit of rally racing was clearly approaching an end. Its rivals had grown just too powerful and the sporting zenith of the classic Mini was now behind it. Memories of that famous triumph in the winter of 1964 will forever burn bright and the “Three Musketeers” have written an indelible chapter into the history of motor sport. As for distinctive headlight solutions, such as incurred the wrath of the powers-that-be back in 1966, they also live on as some of the most popular Original MINI Accessories – from black headlight housing and the evocative spotlights fronting the radiator grille to retrofit xenon headlights.

And so MINI is poised to retrace the steps of its historic forebears. Just a few months after its launch in August 1959 – in Morris Mini-Minor and Austin Seven form – the classic Mini found itself an additional birthplace in continental Europe, the Amersfoort-based firm J.J. Molenaar’s Car Companies turning its hand to assembly of the classic Mini between 1959 and 1966. More than 4,000 units were built over this period, using components delivered from the United Kingdom, plus one or two special additions only found in the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Among the select group of 30 cars built in that first year in Amersfoort was the Austin Seven now making its post-barn comeback. This may therefore be the oldest example of the Dutch-built classic Mini currently in roadworthy condition; it is absolutely one of the oldest representatives of the brand anywhere in the world. But to top it all, it is a genuine “barn find” having been hidden away in said abode for almost a quarter of a century before being re-discovered and examined by BMW Group Netherlands employees. The decision to restore the car was taken quickly, aided by the certainty regarding its origins. The car’s chassis and production numbers were easily identifiable and the seats were upholstered – in traditional Dutch style – using real horsehair.

A five-strong team from VDL Nedcar took on the restoration challenge, stripping the classic Mini down to its bare bones before gradually piecing it back together again. The quintet were able to tap into a reliable well of experience and specialist knowledge in the fields of body and engine construction and apply this expertise extensively. The small 34 hp four-cylinder engine and the gearbox were given a total overhaul and some body parts and the door panels had to be rebuilt by hand. The restorers used faithful replicas of original parts wherever possible and enjoyed valuable assistance from the MINI Community in tracking them down. The restoration process was documented in full at www.facebook.com/Mini.reBorn1959, and that attracted a flood of helpful tips – not to mention the odd long-lost part – from sources around the world. The classic Mini set off on the first test drive of its second life like it was 1959 all over again; the “reBorn” mission had been accomplished. Another contributory factor in the freshness of the car is its new paintwork in the original shade Farina Grey.

Around 1,500 employees will be responsible for building MINI cars when production starts in Born in summer 2014, and among their number will be the five “midwives” who helped deliver the forgotten Mini back into the world. Their efforts are now concentrated squarely on preparing for the future of MINI production at the plant. But they are given daily reminders of their journey back into the brand’s past as car number 983 – “reBorn” in the Netherlands – looks over them from pride of place in the foyer of the new MINI focused production facility.

Source: MINI

Official Release: Today VDL Nedcar employees started the restoration of one of the first Dutch Minis. This classic Mini – one of the oldest Minis in the world – was assembled in 1959 at Molenaar’s Car Factory in Amersfoort, Holland and is now being completely rebuilt by a team of five VDL Nedcar employees.

They were selected from the pool of 1,500 VDL Nedcar employees who will be involved in the future production of MINI at VDL Nedcar in Born. The plant is currently in preparation for MINI contract manufacturing starting in the second half of 2014. It makes MINI the only car brand that will be in series production in the Netherlands.

MINI built in the Netherlands.

For the second time in history this British icon will be produced in the Netherlands. From its year of introduction (1959) up until 1966 the importer J.J. Molenaar’s Car Companies in Amersfoort assembled over 4,000 Minis. BMW Group Netherlands initiated a search for one such Mini built in the Netherlands.

Having found this Classic Mini, VDL Nedcar reacted enthusiastically and put together the restoration team, made up of a bodywork builder, a welder, a painter, an engine specialist and a project manager.

Before the end of this year the genuine Dutch Mini ought to be reborn in the same factory in which a new generation of Dutch MINIs will be produced in the second half of 2014. The restoration process may be followed every step of the way on MINI’s Dutch Facebook page.

After the start of the MINI production in Born this oldest of Dutch Minis can be seen at VDL Nedcar. The Mini – officially recognized by the international 1959 Mini Register – will then be put in a prominent place in the Dutch factory as a token of the 1,500 employees’ pride.

If you want to break a high-speed record, Bonneville is the place to be. Many a record has been smashed on the legendary salt flats in the US state of Utah. The Bonneville Speed Week is the logical choice – a 1964 Mini, perhaps not so. While the 970S boasts an iconic design, the aerodynamics of the legendary shape hinder any attempts to improve the car’s top speed. This can be particularly troublesome when the goal is to raise the bar for cars with engines with a capacity of less than 1,000 cc. Despite this, it could not have been an easier decision for a team from Nelson, New Zealand.

“I will only believe that we have broken the record when I see it in black and white,” said Mike Wilson after the first of two prescribed record attempts, from which the average was to be calculated. The printout ultimately showed 236 km/h – 26 more than the existing record. This figure was later to be revised to 251 km/h.

What nowadays can easily be achieved in modern sports cars on the world’s motorways was the result of two years of hard work for Wilson’s team of Kiwis. The team generated 100,000 dollars of sponsorship money in order to make the record attempt a reality. On top of that came all the meticulous, detailed engineering. Despite all the preparations and best-laid plans, the extreme heat in Utah caused problems for the 1,000 cc engine, which could only be solved with the assistance of local engineers – just in time for the legendary runs.

The 1964 Mini was driven by Nelson Hartley, brother of Formula driver Brendon Hartley. The problem with such a compact car is that the wheel base and track are hardly ideal for driving in a straight line at an average speed of 251 km/h. “This Mini was not designed to travel at more than 120 km/h,” said a grinning Hartley. “It starts getting serious at 240 to 250 km/h, when the car really starts moving from side to side.”

The names Wilson and Hartley, and those of the other team members, now stand proudly in the record book at the Bonneville Speed Week. For ever? The legitimate successors to Burt Munro, who set speed records in an Indian Scout, are turning their attention to new projects. Maybe we will see the return of an iconic Mini at the “Race to the Clouds” at the legendary Pikes Peak …

Check out Project 64 on Facebook.

[Source: Official Release from MINI Motorsport]

Garry Orton, Guy Griffith and Garry Grand have named their unbelievable sounding mission “Project 64″, as they look to demonstrate to the world just how much power their modified Mini Cooper S possesses. The trio hopes to push the boundaries of speed with the classic Mini at the “Bonneville Speedweek”, which takes place from 8th to 20th August in the US state of Utah. They have set their sights on a speed of 150 miles per hour – that is just over 240 km/h. However, they believe the Mini might be capable of even more.

It goes without saying that numerous modifications had to be made in order to take the Mini to a fifth of the speed of sound. “We had a guy in England tell us we’d need 250-horsepower to make a body shape like the Mini’s go at the speed we wanted,” said a grinning Garry Orton. “We have more horsepower than that.” In order to achieve this performance, the engine was modified, the aerodynamics of the chassis were optimised, special tyres were fitted, the undercarriage was tinkered with, and so on and so on. Despite all the technical modifications, the 1964 Mini has retained its classic appearance – a feat the team is very proud of.

Full speed on pure salt.

The “Project 64″ bullet has now arrived in the USA. Starting out in New Zealand, the car travelled by ship to Los Angeles, from where it was taken by trailer towards Utah, where it will line up for the record attempt at the “Bonneville Speedway”, halfway between Salt Lake City and the border with Nevada. Here, huge salt flats stretch out for miles, providing a perfectly flat surface that allows cars to thunder up to maximum speeds without any difficulties.

The “Project 64″ Mini will line up in the class for vehicles up to 1000 cubic centimetres. Garry Orton, Guy Griffith and Garry Grant have achieved all the technical requirements to set a new record. However, the success of the project, in which the trio and their sponsors have invested about 100,000 dollars, is not entirely in their hands. The local weather conditions and the surface of the salt flats play a major role in the speeds achieved by the cars. It is not yet certain what day the record attempt will take place. That also depends on the weather. According to the programme, the races get underway on Saturday 11th August. Then it is a case of crossing your fingers for what Orton, Griffith and Grant hope will be the fastest classic Mini of all time.

Check out Project 64 on Facebook.

[Source: MINI Motorsport]

A unique blend of sporting contest and fundraising event, the Allgäu-Orient Rally is being held for the seventh time this year. For the past three years, BMW Group Classic has been a supporter of this event. Quite separately from this, numerous staff members of the BMW Group are represented in the teams, each comprising three cars and six drivers. They are placing their free time and technical expertise, their passion for historic vehicles and lust for adventure in the service of this good cause. Teams with memorable names like “ChittyChittyBangBang”, “Bavaria2Baku” and “Dust Busters” are setting off, each with three BMW 5 Series Touring models, while the team named “Convoy” is relying on three second-generation BMW 3 Series Touring cars. In earlier years, cars from both series have already demonstrated their rally-worthiness with high long-distance performance. Now is the moment for the five classic Minis, lining up for the start in the late autumn of their long motoring life, to put to the test that reliability which used to be so crucial to their rallying success. The “Minibaijan” team brings to the starting line no fewer than three works-prepared classic Minis, and Austria’s Classic Cars Sports Club has two more of the original diminutive British cars in its fleet.

All the cars taking part in the Allgäu-Orient Rally have one thing in common: they are going to be auctioned at the finishing point, and the proceeds will go to humanitarian aid projects. In this way, last year about €250,000 was raised for the aid organisation Turkish Crescent, which used the money to help earthquake victims and Syrian refugees. In addition, a number of teams use the campaign to raise donations for other charitable institutions. For example, the “Minibaijan” team has made a commitment to SOS Children’s Villages, the “Convoy” team supports the organisation Every Child in Georgia, and the “ChittyChittyBangBang” sextet is collecting money for a children’s home in Albania. In addition to all this, the rally organisation committee coordinates a variety of fundraising activities by sponsors on behalf of aid projects in the countries through which the rally passes.

The Allgäu-Orient Rally not only has unusual objectives, but is run according to special rules. The organisers conceived it as a “low-budget” rally. None of the cars entered is allowed to be less than 20 years old or to have a value of more than €1,111.11. The teams spend each night either in their cars, in tents brought with them or in hotels that charge a maximum of €11.11 per person per night. The journey of more than 5,000 kilometres runs from the starting point in the Bavarian Allgäu, through Austria, Hungary, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey and Georgia to Azerbaijan, though the precise route taken is a matter for the team themselves to decide. Thus it is even possible to take routes through Italy, Croatia and Macedonia. The cars are expected to cover some 375 miles per day; motorways are off limits and satnavs are a no-no. All local traffic regulations must be observed without fail. Special trials and various team tasks have to be completed en route, the results of which form part of the overall evaluation. For more information on the Allgäu-Orient Rally visit:http://www.allgaeu-orient.de/