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• 6.From the Original to the Original. MINI Design and Concept Cars.
   
• 7.The Revolutionary with the Drawing Pad. Sir Alec Issigonis, the Father of the Classic Mini.
   
• 8.Made in England – Then and Now. MINI Production between Past and Future.

6.From the Original to the Original. MINI Design and Concept Cars.

Innovative, unmistakable, stylish – and inspiring time and again.

Just like the classic Mini, the MINI stands for unique design providing brand-new answers to the challenges of its time. Creating the classic Mini, constructor Alec Issigonis and his team had succeeded in re-defining the entire philosophy of the small and compact car in 1959. Developing the MINI, his successors, as it were, re-interpreted the concept of maximum interior space on minimum road surface in modern, up-to-date style.

The result, created almost four decades apart, was two cars of supreme character proudly presenting their unique qualities in a truly unmistakable manner. Both back then and today, thrilling driving characteristics and irresistible design create one complete unit as the sign of distinction of an entire brand.

The starting point for the design of the classic Mini was a vision following clear targets: smaller than all models produced so far by British Motor Corporation, the new car was still to provide sufficient space for four occupants and their luggage. Clearly, therefore, Issigonis focused on economy of space as the fundamental consideration in the development process.

At the same time he wished to offer an innovative answer to the small and compact cars already available on the market in Europe, following his principle that a good designer should never ever copy the competition.

A clear vision and the right concept: the foundation for the classic Mini.

To provide as much space as possible for the occupants on the car's very small footprint, even the technical features and components of the classic Mini had to be moved together. The ideal concept making this possible from the start was of course the engine fitted at the front in conjunction with front-wheel drive. But that alone was not enough for Issigonis. For while there was enough space for a four-cylinder power unit beneath the short bonnet, this was only because Issigonis fitted the engine crosswise and placed the gearbox beneath the drive unit. Certainly an innovative interpretation of the "form follows function" principle still one of the decisive factors in the design of the MINI to this very day.

Issigonis set forth all these plans and configurations not in long documents and studies, but rather in a host of drawings and personal sketches. Indeed, he had already succeeded in compensating for his rather limited ambition for mathematics at school and university through his excellent drawings. And now these drawings became the characteristic trademark of this ingenious engineer and constructor.

With just a few strokes of his pencil he was able to create visions, illustrate solutions for complicated technical problems, and therefore develop greater power of conviction than even the most moving speaker in a detailed technical lecture.
Issigonis' almost contagious euphoria was also expressed by the fact that he often did his drawing on paper table-cloths or menu cards, because his notepad was already full.

One of the legends circulating around the classic Mini is the story of a design sketch done by Issigonis on the paper napkin of a hotel restaurant later used for the first "official" draft on the drawing board in Issigonis' construction office.

In the course of 1958 both the exterior and the interior of the Mini took on their final shape. Striking features later to become characteristic of the classic Mini were the body panel seams between the wings and the bodyshell facing to the outside.

The reason for this particular feature was quite simply money: welding seams facing to the outside were a lot cheaper in production.

The second feature typical of cost-oriented production also clearly visible from outside was the door hinges on the outside of the doors themselves. And the driver who was not able to make do with the luggage compartment offering capacity of 195 litres or 6.8 cubic feet, was able to quite simply leave the bootlid open – since the lid was hinged at the bottom, it served conveniently as a "tray" even taking up bulky objects fastened more or less safely in position. Indeed, this was not even a secret tip, since high-gloss brochures presented this enlarged loading capacity in colourful pictures.

The interior naturally also followed the car's minimalist philosophy: A simple cable served to open the doors and the usual dashboard in front of the driver and passenger was replaced in the classic Mini by a small shelf. Right in the middle was the centre instrument, the speedometer and mileage counter as well as the fuel gauge, with two toggle switches for the screen wipers and the lights right below.

Despite numerous detailed changes and modifications, the basic shape of the classic Mini remained unchanged for no less than 41 years. In the course of time this revolutionary small car became a classic in the history of the automobile, a timeless masterpiece chosen in 1995 by the readers of Autocar, the British car magazine, as the "Car of the Century".

Like its driving behaviour, the typical look of the classic Mini remained a perfect image of the car's character over years and decades, ultimately providing the starting point for the design of the modern MINI.

Creating the MINI: brand-new, but with unmistakable roots.

Back in the mid-1990s, shortly after BMW had taken over Rover Group, the first plans were considered for a new version of this unique compact car.

A study of the MINI Cooper was the presented at the 1997 Frankfurt Motor Show, making it quite clear from now on that this was not going to be merely a copy of the classic model, but rather a modern interpretation of the Mini concept so rich in tradition. Indeed, this concept car combined the classic values of the classic Mini with the demands made of a modern automobile on the threshold to the 21st century.

A spectacular sports car concept had already been presented at the beginning of the year on the occasion of the Monte Carlo Rally. Thirty years after the classic Mini had won the Monte Carlo Rally the last time, this two-seater, right-hand-drive mid-engined ACV 30 (Anniversary Concept Vehicle) study definitely hit the headlines not just on account of its truly powerful and muscular proportions. Rather, the study also made it quite clear how the design features so characteristic of the classic Mini – such as the hexagon radiator grille and the large round headlights – could be carried over into a modern vehicle concept.

So the question is obvious: What would the ideal small car look like when carrying forward the ideas and principles of Sir Alec Issigonis, that ingenious constructor, from the 1950s into the 21st century, with all the technical options and customer preferences of these modern times?

Looking for an answer to this question was certainly a promising undertaking right from the start, particularly as neither the drive concept of the classic Mini nor its virtually unchanged look had lost any of their charm over a period of approximately four decades.

Precisely this is why the MINI Project Team run originally by Frank Stephenson and later by MINI Chief Design Gert Volker Hildebrand attached great significance to conveying not only design details, but also the fundamental idea from the early years of the classic Mini to these modern days of motoring.

The MINI was also to be a unique car offering ample space for four with their luggage, featuring an economical drive concept, and boasting driving and handling qualities no other model in this segment was able to offer.

At the same time the development engineers naturally also considered the high standard of comfort now taken for granted as well as the most demanding safety requirements.

The result, obviously, was once again a revolutionary new small car oriented in every respect to the needs of its times and at the same time developed and manufactured according to the quality standards of a leading premium brand.
Design features and design icons.

This harmony of the targets set by the development engineers and the fundamental values of the concept is reflected in a unique design authentically visualising the common character shared by the classic Mini and the MINI and borne out by a beautiful play on lines and joints, circles and ellipsoids.

With the car measuring 3.63 metres or 142.9" in length, the overall layout and proportions, including short overhangs front and rear expressing the agile handling of the MINI through its exterior, were all retained as a faithful rendition of the classic Mini.

The classic subdivision of the car into three sections – the actual body, the window graphics surrounding the entire vehicle as a kind of band, and the roof seeming to hover in space – was taken up again in a modern rendition.

The shoulder line extends from the headlights across the muscular shoulders all the way to the C-pillars, where the roof is closer to the body than upfront on the A-pillars. This creates side window graphics opening up to the front and clearly emphasising the forward-pushing motion and the sportiness of the car.

Features typical of the brand and already unmistakable on the classic Mini were also re-interpreted on the new model. As an example, a modern rendition of the hexagon radiator grille and the round headlights now no longer surrounded by the wings, but rather integrated in the engine compartment lid, help to give the MINI its typical face so characteristic of the brand.

The side direction indicator surrounds serving on the MINI to distinguish the individual model variants, are also acknowledged as genuine icons in design. In particular, the side indicators guide the eyes of the beholder to the joint on the engine compartment lid of the MINI sweeping back at an angle like the joint on the side panels of the classic Mini.

The rear light clusters standing upright also serve once again as a powerful sign of distinction now featuring a sophisticated chrome frame on the MINI. Indeed, this is once again a clear reminiscence to the classic Mini which always boasted its chrome look, consistently rejecting the inundation of plastic in automobile design of the '70 and '80s.

Last but not least, the very concave, three-dimensional and powerful design of the rims again takes up and reflects the style of the classic Mini, even if the wheels are now larger, wider, and come on runflat tyres.

The interior of the MINI is likewise unmistakable in its design, the Center Speedo in the middle of the dashboard bringing back a characteristic feature of the classic Mini and enhancing this look to create a truly unique design element.

Up to 1968 the speedometer on the classic Mini was also a central instrument which, through its looks alone, provided decisive inspiration for designing the surrounds on the MINI's control units and switches.

Further, unique highlights come from the round air vents and the elliptic main elements on the door linings reflecting the design language of "circular elements" so typical of the MINI and also to be admired on the exterior.

More than ever before, the current fortes of the MINI come out on the design of the second generation introduced in autumn 2006. Again following the philosophy of "From the Original to the Original", both the basic design and the unique details of the car were revised and upgraded in the second generation in a painstaking, evolutionary process.

The powerful stance of the car on its big and muscular wheels now emphasises the sporting character of the MINI even more convincingly. The Center Speedo now even larger than before even offers space for the display of a navigation system, again providing those unmistakable highlights so typical of the brand.

Like the classic Mini, the MINI, thanks to its harmonious and perfectly balanced overall concept, arouses a feeling of affection and almost love at very first sight. To a large extent this is attributable to the cleverly integrated codes of "human body archetype" design language: Through its proportions and friendly mimicry, the MINI arouses the protector's instincts. The powerful shoulders of the car, in turn, exude a sense of safety and security, and the body itself excels through its softly flowing shapes.

New opportunities: the MINI Concept.

Through its design philosophy alone, the MINI allows up-to-date, ongoing development of all features so typical of the brand while retaining its own, unique character. This starting point also provides a wonderful opportunity to carry over the design language so typical of MINI to innovative vehicle concepts extending the range and wealth of the MINI model family.

The idea to present MINI in a new context was demonstrated for the first time in a fascinating study in 2005, when the MINI Concept made its world debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

Presenting this unique study, MINI paved the way to a brand-new category of cars re-interpreting the classic shooting brake concept in modern style. The MINI Concept therefore took up traditional design philosophies already borne out in the 1960s in the guise of the Morris Mini-Traveller and the Austin Mini Countryman, applying these philosophies to modern-day requirements and therefore presenting new options in the body design and functionality of the MINI.

Following the motto "Travel the World", the MINI Concept was presented in a total of four renditions, each highlighting specific facets of the MINI brand and focusing on the place where the cars were being presented: In Frankfurt the emphasis was on elegance, at the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show the concept model highlighted the British origins of MINI. At the 2006 North American International Auto Show in Detroit the emphasis was on wintersport, and at the 2006 Geneva Motor Show the MINI Concept paid tribute to the legendary success of the brand in motorsport.

In all cases the concept car boasted a truly innovative door arrangement revolutionising the use of and access to the car's interior: At the rear the designers introduced a Splitdoor configuration based on the classic door arrangement of the Morris Mini-Traveller and the Austin Mini Countryman. This two-piece rear door with each door element hinged far to the outside and opening outwards offered particularly generous access to the luggage compartment of the MINI Concept – a principle shortly thereafter presented for the first time in a production version of the MINI.

The MINI family grows: introduction of the MINI Clubman.

The 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show marked the world debut of the MINI Clubman which has been enriching the model family ever since. Compared directly with the MINI, the MINI Clubman offers 24 centimetres or 9.45" more body length and 8 centimetres or 3.15" longer wheelbase serving entirely to enhance legroom at the rear.

On the MINI Clubman the driver's and front passenger's doors are supplemented not just by the Splitdoor at the rear, but also by an additional opening on the right side of the car. This additional door on the right, the Clubdoor opening against the direction of travel like a coach door, offers passengers sitting on the rear seats of the MINI Clubman comfortable and convenient access to the rear passenger area.

In its side view the MINI Clubman is characterised by a dynamic wedge shape created through the interplay of the shoulder line rising up slightly to the rear and the horizontal roofline.

Up the A-pillars, the MINI Clubman is identical to the "regular" MINI. It then gains its unique look through its longer wheelbase and longer roofline extending straight back to the steep rear end.

Yet a further special feature is the slight increase in the roof flanks extending on both sides from the A- all the way to the C-pillars along the entire length of the roof and referred to as the Dune Line. This gives the roofline a truly exciting, eye-catching "sweep" and raises the height of the car's flank by approximately two centimetres. As a result, the proportions of the MINI Clubman are particularly smooth and well-balanced also from the side.

Like the classic Mini, the MINI is also available with contrasting colours on the roof – and indeed, this particular sign of distinction is of great significance on the MINI Clubman, where, apart from the roof, the C-pillars also come in the contrasting colour ordered by the customer to give the Splitdoor at the rear an additional optical effect. Ultimately this gives the car a very compact look at the rear and adds to its individual, unique appearance on the road.

MINI Convertible: consistently open, MINI all the way.

The open-air MINI now conquering the global market in its second generation is likewise a genuine MINI but at the same time a truly unique character.

While the classic Mini was enhanced by a Convertible model only in the last decade of its unique career, the designers of the new generation of the MINI fulfilled the loud wishes and requests of open-air aficionados far sooner: The first new MINI Convertible was presented at the 2004 Geneva Motor Show three years after the closed MINI, but naturally with the same unmistakable design features.

Apart from the soft roof combining the proportions typical of MINI when closed with a unique silhouette, the four-seater boasted a number of other features typical of a genuine Convertible. The waistline rising towards the end of the car, for example, was accentuated from the start by a chrome bar all round the vehicle, the steep windscreen was just as characteristic as the chrome-plated rollbar. And at the rear the bootlid opening downwards as well as the hinges at the outside offered further features reminiscent in their design of the classic Mini.

The new version of the MINI Convertible is experiencing – and its drivers and passengers are enjoying – its first summer in the year of brand's 50th anniversary. The front end of this open four-seater once again boasts the face of the current MINI, and the other design features focusing on sporting performance are also the same as on the closed model.

At the same time the new MINI Convertible is even more mature, more sophisticated and sporting in its look. With even larger windows, the soft roof offers optimised all-round visibility and the innovative, single-piece rollbar moves up only when required, thus underlining the proportions of the new MINI Convertible so typical of a new roadster.

Like the side view of the car, the rear end of the new MINI is also even more muscular and powerful in its look. And in the interest of homogeneous surfaces, the bootlid still pivoting at the bottom as before now comes with hinges at the inside.

Breakthrough to the fourth dimension: the MINI Crossover Concept.

Even with the MINI, the MINI Clubman and the MINI Convertible, the brand still offers great potential for further development. Moving into further segments is indeed a very attractive option for the designers, a fascinating example of the wealth of ideas offered by the MINI Design Department being the MINI Crossover Concept presented for the first time at the 2008 Paris Motor Show.

The MINI Crossover Concept is again a typical representative of the MINI design philosophy and, as a new model variant without a historical background, takes the brand into a brand-new dimension.

As the first model in the range measuring more than four metres in length, with four drive wheels, four doors and four single seats, the MINI Crossover Concept offers ample space and freedom of movement at the rear as well as transport capacity never seen before in a MINI.

Further highlights are the car's very flexible interior layout meeting all individual wishes and requirements.

The MINI Crossover Concept is a truly exceptional four-door, with the conventional arrangement of doors only on the front passenger's side, while on the driver's side the MINI Crossover Concept comes with the conventional driver's door and a lifting/sliding door providing very convenient access to the rear or for loading the car from the side.

The single-piece rear door pivoting to one side with its frameless and retractable window serves to offer additional practical value and easy loading. A further advantage is that the luggage compartment in the MINI Crossover Concept may be enlarged as required by tilting down the rear seats completely into the floor of the car individually by means of a parallelogram kinematic mechanism.

Yet a further innovative feature on the body is the folding top extending throughout almost the entire length of the roof and opening from both front and rear, allowing fresh air and warm sunshine into the car according to the driver's and passengers' preferences.

The driver and his passengers enjoy the generous space provided by four single seats with fore-and-aft adjustment also at the rear. Between the seats on the centre console of the MINI Crossover Concept the highly versatile, multi-functional MINI Center Rail extending from the dashboard all the way to the rear offers not only unconventional storage options, but also a direct connection between the front and rear seats.

This consistent connection throughout the interior is further emphasised by the design of the door linings extending harmoniously from front to rear, visually connecting the two rows of seats.

Yet another highlight within the interior is the innovative three-dimensional central instrument, the MINI Center Globe. This combined control and display unit in the form of a sphere featured for the first time worldwide in an automobile sets new standards for the integrated control of entertainment, communication, navigation and vehicle functions.

The MINI Crossover Concept carries that unique feeling so characteristic of MINI into a new dimension. It combines the individual style of the brand with spaciousness and transport capacities of a standard never seen before in a MINI, adding greater flexibility within the interior to meet the most varied requirements of everyday life and leisure-time activities through innovative solutions.

More than ever before, therefore, this new design concept symbolises the MINI's principle of a car transcending all classes and segments of the population and meeting virtually all kinds of mobility requirements in our modern world.
 

Prototype Mini project drawing by Alec Issigonis, 1958

7.The Revolutionary with the Drawing Pad. Sir Alec Issigonis, the Father of the Classic Mini.

He had already been successful with his own sports cars and he had been commissioned on a number of occasions to develop large saloons. But his favourite project, as Alec Issigonis made it quite clear, was the construction of a simple, extremely functional and very affordable small car.

So when Issigonis, the Deputy Technical Director of the Austin Plant in Longbridge, was requested in late 1965 by Leonard Lord, the Chairman of British Motor Corporation (BMC), to develop a brand-new and truly innovative car, he was absolutely thrilled and knew exactly what he wanted.

The new car was to be smaller than all models built by BMC so far, but nevertheless offer sufficient space for four occupants and their luggage. A four-cylinder already built by the company was to provide the necessary power, while the driving characteristics and the all-round economy of the new small car were to set new standards.

Considering this brief and the demanding requirements to be fulfilled, what Issigonis needed was no more and no less than an absolutely revolutionary new design – exactly the right job for him and his team.

Back then Alec Issigonis was 51 years old, a seasoned constructor and automotive engineer with an unconventional career and an exceptional approach to his work. At the time his contemporaries described him as an almost pedantic tinkerer and a passionate technician simply bursting with enthusiasm.

Issigonis did not always do his designs on the drawing board in the construction office, but rather opted for paper napkins or the little drawing pad he always kept handy to present his ideas to his colleagues and staff members during lunch.

Mathematics he regarded as the "enemy of every creative human being", and with his wealth of ideas, his enthusiasm and his distaste for compromises he pushed his team forward to top performance time and again.

After just seven months: test drive in the prototype Mini.

Opting for front-wheel drive and the engine fitted crosswise at the front with the gearbox directly below, Issigonis right from the start created ideal conditions for excellent efficiency in the use of space. No less than 80 per cent of the space taken up by the Mini, what one might call the car's "footprint" on the road, was exclusively for the passengers and their luggage.

Overall length of the new car was 3.05 metres or 120.0", and the Mini might indeed have been even shorter. But Issigonis had exact ideas and intentions, which he presented to his team in a rather unusual manner: He had them cut through a model of the Mini right down the middle, then moving the two halves apart centimetre by centimetre. And when he finally cried out "stop!", the Mini had reached its ideal length.

Just seven months after the official go-ahead, two prototypes of the new small car were ready to go. So Issigonis invited his boss Leonard Lord to a test drive he still recalled full of amusement years later: "We drove round the Plant, and I was really going like hell. I'm certain he was scared, but he was very impressed by the car's roadholding. So when we stopped outside his office, he got out and simply said: 'All right, build this car.' "

From this moment on the ongoing development of the Mini in becoming a genuine legend was unstoppable. And Issigonis had secured his position on the podium as one of the world's most ingenious and influential automobile constructors. The master himself was a bit more reserved, making it quite clear that "I didn't invent the Mini, I built it."

Alec Issigonis: straight from a family thrilled by technology.

Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis was born in the Turkish town of Smyrna, today's Izmir, as the son of a Briton of Greek origin and a mother from Bavaria, on 18 November 1906. He inherited his great interest in technology and machines from his father who, shortly after the turn of the century, ran a company for marine engine technology.

In 1922 the family was forced to flee to Malta when the Turkish state was established in very hectic turmoil. His father died on the island and his mother took him to England where, two years later, young Alec was finally able to drive his first car: a Weymann-bodied Singer in which he chauffeured his mother through Europe in 1925 in a "never-ending series of breakdowns", as Issigonis recalled later. But it was precisely this unforgettable experience which, immediately upon returning back home, encouraged him to start a three-year course in mechanical engineering at Battersea Polytechnic in London.

Issigonis' great talent for craftsmanship and his passion for designing and drawing new technical concepts proved barely sufficient at the time to set off his strong distaste of mathematical theory. So he just about managed his final exam, but did not qualify for ongoing studies at the college in Battersea.

His obvious conclusion was to enter professional life as a technical draughtsman and salesman in a design office for automotive technology in London. Buying an Austin Seven from his first salary, he prepared the car for racing and entered his first event in March 1929. In the years to follow Issigonis developed his own monoposto in his spare time with design and construction features destined to later make him famous: the Lightweight Special was absolutely tiny, extremely light, but technically progressive – and successful.

In 1934 Issigonis joined the design and construction team of Humber Ltd., the Coventry-based car maker, where he worked on the introduction of independent suspension. He proved so good at the job that Morris Motors recruited him themselves just two years later on account of his skill in suspension development.

During the war Issigonis had no choice but to work on various military vehicles, which he nevertheless used as "guinea pigs" for technical innovations.

In 1941 Morris launched the Mosquito Project, a compact four-seater for the post-war era. And indeed, despite the most challenging conditions, Issigonis, reputed to be an all-out workaholic, and his the team had the first road-going prototype ready within three years. Precisely this model introduced as the Morris Minor in 1948 became the most successful car built by the brand in the post-war years.

When Morris and Austin Motor Company merged four years later to form British Motor Corporation, Issigonis no longer saw any perspectives for his creativity in future. So he started working for Alvis, with the intention to develop a luxury saloon. But with the project ultimately failing for financial reasons, BMC took Issigonis on again in 1955 as their Deputy Technical Director at the Austin Plant in Longbridge. Here Issigonis was to develop a number of new model series for the small, medium-sized and upmarket segments to secure the future of what was then Europe's largest car maker.

Since particularly the small car project was acknowledged as very urgent due to the Suez Crisis, the new model made its debut in 1959 as the Morris Mini-Minor and the Austin Seven. Large models only came later, with the four-door Morris 1100 midrange model entering the market three years later and the very spacious Austin 1800 in 1964.

Career and knighthood: honoured for his lifetime achievement.

The success of the classic Mini also gave worldwide fame to the car's "father". In 1961 Alec Issgonis, in his position as Technical Director, became a Board Member of Austin Motor Company, and two years later he was appointed to the Board of BMC.

In 1967 he became a member of the Royal Society, the most renowned research society in Britain, and two years later the Queen knighted the father of the Mini.

Sir Alec Issigonis retired in 1971, but remained an advisor to the company until 1987. One year later he died on 2 October, shortly before his 82nd birthday.

To this day this outstanding automotive engineer and constructor lives on in countless memories. And the market launch of the second generation of the Mini was indeed held exactly on 18 November 2006, the 100th birthday of the father of the classic Mini, in the honour of this great man.

8.Made in England – Then and Now. MINI Production between Past and Future.

The first Mini was an Austin Seven coming off the production line in Austin's Longbridge Plant in Birmingham on 4 April 1959. The team of twins was subsequently completed five weeks later, the first Morris Mini-Minor leaving the Morris Plant in Oxford on 8 May.

The two models were presented to the public together for the first time on 26 August 1959. Despite their different origin, the Austin Seven and the Morris Mini-Minor were virtually identical, the only distinctions on the outside being their radiator grilles, the wheel caps and body colours: The Austin Seven was available in Tartan Red, Speedwell Blue, and Farina Grey, the Morris Mini-Minor came in Cherry Red, Clipper Blue, and Old English White.

Production at the two plants continued for ten years with the model built in Longbridge bearing the name Austin Mini as of 1962.

Plant Oxford, which had been building cars since 1913, built exactly 602, 817 units during this period, all of them the basic version of the four-seater. All other model variants ranging from the Mini Van through the Mini Pick-Up all the way to the Morris Mini-Traveller and Austin Seven Countryman were built in Longbridge.

In 1969 all production activities were concentrated at the Longbridge Plant, with the model range being streamlined and Mini becoming the brand name for this revolutionary compact car. So the days of the twin brothers (or sisters?) were over once and for all.

A million cars in six years: the MINI repeats the rapid start of the classic Mini.

With the brand being re-positioned in 2001 under the guidance of the BMW Group and production of the modern MINI starting as planned, it was only obvious that MINI had to move back to Oxford, the plant so rich in tradition thus once again becoming the starting point for a genuine revolution in the small car market. And like the classic Mini, the MINI made a remarkable start into the market exceeding all expectations: within just six years, Plant Oxford built no less than a million units of the MINI. This was indeed just as long as the classic Mini had taken to exceed the one-million mark, but back then production was still at two plants.

After 41 years and a production volume of more than 5.3 million units, the last classic Mini left Plant Longbridge on 4 October 2000. Since the decision to build the modern MINI in Oxford had already been taken half a year before, only nine months remained from then on to the start of MINI pre-production and just 13 months to the start of actual series production. Clearly, therefore, the roughly 2,500 employees in Oxford at the time and their colleagues from BMW Plant Regensburg supporting the modernisation process faced a great challenge and a truly tight timetable in making this new start into the market.

MINI production in Oxford according to the strict quality standards of the BMW Group.

The BMW Group had already invested some £ 280 million in the Rover Plant in Oxford back in 1996/1997, thoroughly modernising the Bodyshop and Final Assembly. Another project also completed back then was a state-of-the-art Paintshop, at the time the second-largest construction project in Great Britain following the Millennium Dome. And now this was followed by further investments amounting to some £ 230 million serving to modernise and re-structure the plant.

All this made Oxford one of the most modern car production plants in the world, boasting cutting-edge technology specifically for the production of the MINI. No less than 229 production robots were installed at the time to build the body-in-white, with a laser measuring system serving to check the body of the MINI down to a precision of no less than 0.05 millimetres.

The Paintshop was likewise custom-built for the requirements of MINI production, not only allowing very precise and environmentally friendly application of the paint, but also providing the contrasting paint finish on the roof so typical of the MINI Cooper.

Oxford also became the first European car production plant to make exclusive use of electrical tools in final assembly, while the KISS (Core Production Integrating Management System) serves to fully automate communication in the production process by using the most advanced information technology. In this process the complete production of each individual model is electronically documented from the body-in-white all the way to final assembly, again ensuring that every MINI meets the supreme quality standards of the BMW Group.

The original sales target of 100,000 cars a year was exceeded right from the start in the first full year of production, with Plant Oxford passing the 200,000 units a year mark in 2005, a year after the MINI Convertible had been added to the range.

This ongoing success of the MINI called for permanent expansion of production capacities, the BMW Group again investing some £100 million in the Plant in 2005 to prepare facilities for production of the second-generation MINI and to increase overall capacities to some 240,000 units a year.

Flexible, efficient and quality-conscious production in the MINI Production Triangle.

Most of this money was invested in modernising and extending the Body Assembly Shop and in the construction of a second Paintshop.

For the first time within the BMW Group, the Paintshop uses an Integrated Painting Process (IPP) where the rustproofing and primer are no longer applied in separate processes, but rather together with the first layer of paint.

Upon the start of production of the new MINI in autumn 2006, the three productions plants in Oxford (Bodyshop, Paintshop, Assembly), Swindon (Pressings) and Hams Hall (Engine Production) were integrated for the first time in the MINI Production Triangle.

Body panels have been produced in Swindon, some 70 kilometres west of Oxford, since 1954. Today some 1,000 employees in Swindon make about 90 per cent of the pressings and 80 per cent of the pre-assembled body components such as lids and doors for the MINI Bodyshop at Plant Oxford. In all, these pressings are made on 19 pressing lines with a total of 50 individual pressing machines ranging in pressure from 400 to 5,000 tonnes. Each pressing machine is tailored to the size and complexity of the respective component.

The Engine Plant in Hams Hall, by comparison, is relatively new. This Plant near Birmingham has been the BMW Group's Competence Centre since 2001 for the production of four-cylinder gasoline engines with a capacity of up to 2.0 litres. Since 2005, the BMW Group has invested some £ 30 million in the production of gasoline engines for the MINI.

At the Hams Hall Plant some 1,000 employees build engines with the most advanced technology featuring innovative valve control based on the BMW Group's VALVETRONIC technology providing optimum power in the four-cylinder engines featured in the MINI One, the MINI Cooper, and the MINI Cooper Clubman, as well as twin-scroll technology ensuring immediate response of the turbocharged power unit in the MINI Cooper S and the MINI Cooper S Clubman. The plant delivers up to 800 MINI engines per day to Oxford, just in time and just in sequence, that is at exactly the right time and in the right sequence for final assembly.

The innovations in production at the Body Plant in Oxford enlarged once again for even greater capacity include Mobile Standard Production Cells (Mobi-Cells) developed by the BMW Group for a flexible and rapid increase in production in response to current demand. The number of production robots in this sector has increased to 429, making production of the new MINI highly flexible in accordance with the BMW Group's Customer-Oriented Sales and Production Process (COSP). This allows the customer to change the configuration of his car up to just six days prior to the start of assembly.

Assembly of the MINI, MINI Clubman, and MINI Convertible all in parallel.

In the assembly process, the MINI comes off the same line as the MINI Clubman in production since 2007 and the MINI Convertible now also in its second generation. In accordance with the customer's specific order and the equipment/options required, the workers fit up to 2,000 components on each individual MINI.

With numerous quality tests integrated in the assembly process, the workers use cordless, portable hand-held computers identifying the vehicle by means of its scanned-in chassis number and then following specific test requirements. After assembly each car goes through a comprehensive inspection regime including an active driving test on the dynamometer and a wide range of electronic tests.

In all, Plant Oxford currently has some 3,700 employees. With demand for the MINI made in Oxford growing consistently, global sales of the MINI in 2008 amounted to over 232,000 units, the number of cars built since the re-launch of the brand thus exceeding the 1.4 million-unit-mark at the beginning of this anniversary year.

A further significant point is that not only the MINI, but also the Oxford Plant is celebrating an important anniversary in 2009, the production of 10 million cars in this university city ever since William Morris started building cars here back in 1913.