Mega Mini
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday May 25, 2001
The model that embodied the Swinging '60s is back for a tilt at the 21st century.
Hilton Holloway takes a first drive of the legendary name with the familiar shape.
At last. Nearly 42 years after the very first Mini rolled out, a brand new model is heading for the showrooms. For BMW, custodian of the Mini legacy, this new car presented one of the hardest jobs in the automotive firmament: replacing a legend.
The Mini did not sell in volumes to rival the Ford Model-T and VW Beetle - but it was truly revolutionary, setting the style for today's best-selling passenger vehicle format: the compact front-drive car.
BMW isn't known for rushing its cars into the showroom, and the new Mini is the fruit of an especially long and difficult gestation. It was styled by an American and mainly engineered in the UK by Rover. The engine is made in Brazil but the car is built in Britain.
The maker has also kept it in the family. The new Mini was the pet project of ex-BMW boss Bernd Pischetsrieder, who just happens to be the great-nephew of Alec Issigonis, the man behind the original Mini.
It's hard to say whether Issigonis would approve of the new Mini. He disliked styling for styling's sake, loved simplicity and could conjure interior space out of nowhere.
By contrast, BMW has deliberately aped the Mini's unique look, created a very complex machine and put sophistication before space. Think of it as the smallest BMW since the company's 1950s bubble cars.
So, after all the hype, what's it really like? It looks big. Surprisingly big. But the Mini is actually one of the shortest cars on sale. Considerably shorter (by more than 25 cm) than a Holden Barina. But the 85kW Cooper version looks huge on the roadside, standing four-square on its big 16-inch wheels. The original Mini rolled on 10-inchers. The car's Tonka-toy stance is accentuated by the substantial black plastic wheel arches and the tiny overhangs, front and rear.
Mini designer Frank Stephenson says the big wheels, very short body and lack of visible roof pillars are the key to this optical illusion.
Walk up to the Mini and the sense of the car's width diminishes as the sense of its squat stance takes over. How could any driver approaching 180 cm tall get inside? Pull the door open and you'll find out.
Grabbing the door handle starts the revelation of the new Mini's true character. This is one expensive-feeling piece: chrome-plated and hefty between the fingers. Pull on the chunky trigger and the frameless window drops a tad, unsealing itself so the door will open. The Mini has frameless auto-drop windows, just like the Audi TT and Porsche 911.
Swing open the long door - and you'll stop and stare. The Mini's interior is a bold collection of aluminium-finish beams and tubes. The "Spitfire wing" dash says Jaguar but the twin buttresses that arc from floor to dash say futuristic Audi TT.
The dash is dominated by the giant centrally mounted circular speedo flanked by the classic British Leyland-era circular air vents. On the Cooper, the rev counter is mounted on the steering column so the driver looks at it below the rim of the wheel.
Rover's engineers have lived up to their heritage and carved out masses of space, in the front at least. The seat is mounted very low, but there is considerable adjustment in all directions and a surprisingly wide cabin. From outside the Mini looks low and cramped. From the inside it feels low-ceilinged but airy.
BMW says that the packaging - the subtle relationship between the seating position and the controls - is as close to that of the 3 Series as possible. It's true: they've got that low-bottom-stretched-leg driving position superbly right.
Unlike the original, drivers are no longer hunched over the wheel. It'll be very snug, but four average size adults should travel in comfort. Their luggage, though will have to go on the roof. The boot's tiny - about 45 per cent smaller than that of the Holden Barina.
Australia won't be getting the base model Mini One (originally to be called Mini-Minor) which gets the 60 kW version of the 1.6-litre engine. Developed with Chrysler, the Cooper's engine squeezes another 19 kW out of the same ironworks but, on paper at least, the pulling power of the smaller engine is more Mini-like, coming full-on by 3,000 rpm.
Pull the heavy doors shut, twist the key and the Cooper whirrs and zings into burbling life. Somebody worked hard on the exhaust note, trying to capture the insistent raspberry of the original. Snick the ball-top gear lever into first gear and the Cooper pulls away smoothly.
The overriding first impressions are of a hefty, solid, beautifully constructed car. BMW says the Mini's bodyshell is up to three times stiffer than a typical car of this size. It feels it and this rigidity helps give the steering a wonderfully meaty feel.
The Cooper is much more stiffly sprung than the Mini One. One BMW engineer told Drive that the difference is almost as great as that between a 318i and an M3. But that doesn't make the Mini a rough-riding hothead. Down the road, the first-rate ride quality is backed up by superb damping. Whatever the situation - rough road, humps - the Cooper wafts onwards, unflustered.
Time to think baby BMW and time to thank the Germans for the sophisticated rear axle. It's expensive, and it robs space from the rear of the cabin but it helps lift the Mini onto another handling plane.
Wind up the Cooper and it gathers speed steadily and undramatically. Before too long, you're willing the Cooper up through the gears as hard as you can. Granted, the engine of the test car was just 18 km old when we started, but the Cooper isn't light and the gearing is inexplicably long: third gear will take the car up to 160 km/h. It's a problem. This car is so capable and the chassis so well-sorted, yet much of the 85 kW seems to get lost somewhere between driveshafts and road.
Still, get it up to speed and the Cooper dives in and out of corners with all the enthusiasm of the original. The roadholding and steering feel are absolutely top-notch.
Motoring pundits doubtless will be in a flap about the most important new car of 2001. As always, there will be supporters and dissenters, who say the car is not true to its origins.
Drive's European editor, George Kacher, reckons the new Mini is "compelling different". "I've some complaints," he says. "The gearing is too long and there was some squirming from the chassis when cornering very hard, but that might be down to the tyres being very new.
"The brakes could also be a bit stronger for drivers who really want to wring the car out. But I'd say that the Mini Cooper is in a different league to rival cars. The driving experience reminds me of the first time I drove a Golf GTi or a Peugeot 205 GTi."
To date, BMW has given the impression that it's unsure about potential demand. The Mini has been so heavily hyped (first seen in late 1997 and formally unveiled last July) that genuine customer interest is hard to gauge. It arrives in Australia next March, priced from about $35,000.
In Britain,the entry price of #10,300 ($28,000) will have the public in raptures. And while it's likely to become known for its accessible super-chic, the real story under the cheeky lines is that this is a brilliant amalgam of the best of BMW engineering and the sparkle of the original Mini.
1957
The Mini was born out of the 1956 Suez crisis. Soaring petrol prices had boosted sales of tiny "bubble cars" from Heinkel, Messerschmitt and BMW. British Motor Corporation chairman Leonard Lord's demand for a competitor gave BMC chief designer Alec Issigonis the green light to build a radical new car just 10ft (3.05 m) long. Worked started in March 1957, Lord drove the first prototype a year later and after five minutes told Issigonis to produce it within 12 months.
1956
The Mini was launched on August 26, 1959 as the Austin Se7en and Morris Mini-Minor. Radical engineering solutions included front-drive with the engine mounted sideways and the gearbox in the sump, 10-inch wheels and rubber cones instead of suspension springs. These made for a very compact car with huge interior space. Power from the tiny 848cc engine was 25.4 kW, cost was under #500 but it lacked even a standard heater. The accelerated development led to faults, especially notorious water leaks.
1961
After strong sales in the first year, BMC built wagon, van and utility versions. True to British notions of class distinction, it introduced the upmarket Wolseley Hornet and Riley Elf with large upright grilles and extended rear ends. And it launched the Mini Cooper, modified by John Cooper, whose F1 race team had won the world championships in 1959-60. Issigonis had no interest; Cooper approached Lord and was commissioned to build 1,000 with a royalty of #2 for each car.
1962-68
The basic car was re-christened Mini. Cooper driver Pat Moss, sister of Stirling, won the Tulip rally. The Cooper went into production in Sydney and cost $950. In 1963 Rauno Aaltonen was third in the Monte Carlo Rally and won the Alpine Rally in the new Cooper S. He teamed with Bob Holden to win the Gallaher 500 at Bathurst in 1966. In 1968, the Mini's last season of major rallying, it came third, fourth and fifth at Monte Carlo.
1969-71
British Leyland wanted to replace the Mini with a more modern hatch. Issigonis had already come up with a solution in 1968 - the 9X hatchback which, though roomier, was a remarkable 102 mm shorter than a Mini and powered by a radical, ultra-compact engine. Possibly Issigonis's greatest feat, it was sidelined amid BL mergers and only one prototype survives. Nevertheless, the Mini spawned the Morris 1100 and the even-bigger Austin 1800. In 1971 Australian-built Minis switched to the Clubman bodyshell.
1974-80
British Leyland collapsed in 1974. The British Government nationalised it to save
hundreds of thousands of jobs. The Mini was still selling well even as the company struggled to raise the money and engineering talent for its replacement, the Mini-Metro, which was unveiled in 1980. Based on the Mini's suspension, it had a wider hatchback body and an updated version of the original engine. But the baby car stayed in production and the Mini-Metro soon became the Metro.
1986-96
Production of the Mini fell to just 33,700 in 1986. Many thought the Mini had been axed but Austin-Rover revived the badge and pushed sales up to 45,000 in 1990, helped by special editions and popularity in Japan. In 1991 the Cooper was fitted with fuel injection. A Mini was 92nd of 176 starters in the 1995 Nurburgring 24-Hour race. Revenge for the
1-2-3 win and subsequent disqualification in the 1966 Monte Carlo rally was exacted in 1996 when a Mini finished a remarkable 69th.
1997
After three years of BMW ownership of Rover, the Mini was given a final revamp with all mod cons.
A price hike signalled the Mini's new premium status. At the 1997 Frankfurt show, BMW sneak previewed the new Mini - the pet project of ex-BMW boss Bernd Pischetsrieder, great-nephew of Alec Issigonis. The Metro died. The concept pictured, commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Monte Carlo win, was never destined for production.
SAFE AS BRICKS
So confident were the original Mini's makers about its roadholding that they challenged anyone to roll the vehicle when cornering hard. The original car was spartan (it had sliding windows) and had barely enough room for four and a couple of cases. Its safety record was marginal. The new Mini cossets occupants with six airbags. BMW anticipates an impressive four-star rating in Euro NCAP crash tests.
MONEY CLIP
From the Herald archives comes this photograph of what was regarded as a major breakthrough. In April, 1971 it was reported that a plastic panel incorporating the bonnet and front guards could cut the cost of Mini front-end repairs. It was slated to sell for $32.25.
NO MOKING
The soft-top Moke, in production from 1964, was among the most radical Mini variations.
Low, box-section side panels on the basic platform provided rigidity. The "Californian" version with bigger wheels was still a disaster off-road. Leyland Australia planned
and dropped a 4WD version with a second engine driving the rear wheels.
MEMORY LANE
"It was my hero car when it won the Monte Carlo Rally and the Bathurst 500. I also remember it fondly for numerous personal firsts ..."
In tomorrow's Weekend Drive, Peter McKay reports on a week spent in the last of the original Minis, a 2000 model Cooper.
@weblink
www.drive.com.au/exec
Video footage of the new Mini in action.
© 2001 Sydney Morning Herald
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