by Colin Morley

Created on: January 24, 2010   Last Updated: January 25, 2010

This article is aimed at those wishing to buy the original Mini Cooper, and does not relate to the Mini range produced by BMW since the year 2000.

The Mini was introduced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and produced by it and its successors until the end of production in the year 2000.  The Mini Cooper was essentially designed as a sporting rally version of the standard Mini. 

The Mini revolutionised the production of small cars, introducing a transversally mounted engine to save space and front wheel drive for small-car performance. The Mini Cooper revolutionised rallying by incorporating all the power and versatility of the larger car into a tiny space.  The first Mini Cooper rolled off the production line in 1961, just two years after the appearance of the Mark I Mini.

The 1961 Mini Cooper, with its Austin (from the BMC stable) badge, had a four stroke, four cylinder inline engine of 997cc capacity (versus the Mark I Mini’s 850cc). 

The two-door salon’s dimensions were 3048mm (6ft) length, 1397mm (4’ 7”) width and 1346mm (4’ 5” height).  The larger engine capacity, together with the Cooper’s twin carburettors helped the car to achieve a top speed of 135kph (84 mph) and an acceleration of 0-60mph in 17.2 seconds. Braking was improved by the replacement of brake shoes with discs on the front wheels.  The fuel capacity remained identical with the original Mini with a tank capacity of just 25 litres

The Cooper specification came from the engineering of John Cooper, who had successfully built track racing cars for some years, with success in Formula I motor racing and who had fallen in love with the new Mini concept and wanted to shape it into a sporting icon.  In 1963, the Cooper S was born.

The Cooper S engine size was upped to a powerful 1071cc capacity and power assistance was added to the brakes. The 0-60 time was now reduced to just 13.0 seconds, and the car immediately achieved success in the Monte Carlo Rally, competing with much larger sized and more conventional rally models.

More than 120,000 Mini Coopers were produced between 1961 and 1971, and several remain available.  But there are also many fakes, and you should be aware of what to look for if you want to own the real thing.  Firstly the years of manufacture were as follows:

Mark 1 Mini Cooper – October 1961-January 1964

Chassis Numbers for Austin badged Cooper start with C-A2S7 and Morris badged

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