Leyland Mini 1000 HL

In 1956, the Suez crisis dominated fuel prices due to the resulting fuel shortage. In Great Britain, drivers were only given 40 liters of petrol per month and economical small cars were suddenly in high demand.

This vehicle category already existed and the small cars were mostly imported to the UK from Germany. For Leonard Lord, the head of the British Motor Corporation (BMC) at the time, this was anything but pleasing. What's more, he was downright disgusted by the appearance of the «bubble cars».

In order to get a completely new and, above all, British small car as quickly as possible, Lord recruited Sir Alec Issigonis as chief designer, who had already designed the Morris Minor and later moved to the Alvis Car and Engineering Company Ltd.

In 1957, Issigonis met regularly with his friends in a small restaurant to exchange ideas. It was in this restaurant that the first sketches of the classic Mini were drawn on napkins. These sketches showed nothing less than the future of all small cars.

A transversely mounted engine and front-wheel drive were nothing new, but the distribution of all elements was revolutionary. The entire drive took up only 60 centimeters. This was achieved by mounting the engine transversely above the transmission and the radiator next to it in the direction of travel, with the oil pan lubricating both the transmission and the engine. The four wheels were positioned at the outermost corners of the car so that the drive and occupants could benefit from as much space as possible. Thanks to Mr. Alex Moulton, also known for his Hydrolastic or whisky-soda suspension, these were sprung using rubber elements. The interior dimensions were defined very simply: Four armchairs were put together and four people of different sizes were made to sit on them. The fifth person involved measured the height and drew the outline on the floor.

In 1959, the first classic Mini with the model names Austin Seven and Morris Mini Minor rolled off the production line and the model was officially presented at the London Motor Show on August 26, 1959.

The Mini became an icon and for decades, various companies produced the Mini at the Longbridge plant near Oxford and continued to modify it. The British Motor Corporation, later British Leyland and finally Rover, which was taken over by BMW in 1994, including the Mini, Land Rover and MG brands. Little was changed visually until the last classic Mini was produced in 2000. Over 5.3 million MINIs have been produced since 1959.