In the next couple of years, two million Minis per year will be built, 80,000 more per year than the previous production record in 1972. However, not many know that around 80% of Minis made in the UK are exported.
It was a car that revolutionised the way cars were manufactured, the designer Alec Issigonis used a transverse-mounted engine and front-wheel drive in a body that was no more than 10-foot long and yet would be able to seat four adults.
It wasn’t, however, until the famous film The Italian Job (1969) and also famous celebrities creating publicity by driving the Mini that it became a figurehead of British culture.
Autocar’s editor-in-chief said "It was one of the most remarkable cars ever built".
Mini Cooper S
Mini: A century of car-making in Oxford
First production of the Mini Minor - 1959
Birmingham gets a taste of the original Italian Job
Mr Bean Mini in a police chase - Goodwood Revival 2009
Last Longbridge Mini up for sale - recovered from the Longbridge tunnels in 2012
The all-new MINI Paceman
