Chris Pearson and John Johnsen's Blue, 1964, Austin Mini Cooper, during the Tony Dron Memorial Trophy For MRL Historic Touring Cars.
This distinctive two-door car was designed for BMC by Sir Alec Issigonis. It was manufactured at the Longbridge plant in England located next to BMC's headquarters and at the former Morris Motors plant at Cowley near Oxford, in the Victoria Park/Zetland British Motor Corporation (Australia) factory in Sydney, Australia, and later also in Spain (Authi), Belgium, Italy (Innocenti) Chile, Malta, Portugal, South Africa, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Yugoslavia (IMV). The Italian version of the Mini which was sold under the Innocenti marque was produced in Lambrate, a district of Milan. The Mini Mark I had three major UK updates: the Mark II, the Clubman, and the Mark III. Within these was a series of variations, including an estate car, a pick-up truck, a van, and the Mini Moke, a jeep-like buggy. The performance versions, the Mini Cooper and Cooper "S", were successful as both race and rally cars, winning the Monte Carlo Rally in 1964, 1965, and 1967. In 1966, the first-placed Mini (along with nine other cars) was disqualified after the finish, under a controversial decision that the car's headlights were against the rules. The car featured a race-tuned engine, twin SU carburettors, a closer-ratio gearbox and front disc brakes, uncommon at the time in a small car. One thousand units of this version were commissioned by management, intended for and designed to meet the homologation rules of Group 2 rally racing. The 997 cc engine was replaced by a shorter stroke 998 cc unit in 1964. In 1962, Rhodesian John Love became the first non-British racing driver to win the British Saloon Car Championship driving a Mini Cooper.
Size: 2950px × 2090px
Location: Silverstone Circuit, Towcester, Northamptonshire, NN12 8TN
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 55, 1964, 2022, 998cc, alec, austin, bhp, blue, brakes, car, carburettors, cars., chris, classic, cooper, disc, dron, engine, front, gearbox, historic, issigonis., john, johnsen, loser-ratio, mark, memorial, mini, mrl, pearson, race, race-tuned, silverstone, sir, su, tony, touring, trophy, twin
