Chapter mini02

READ OUT LOUDTHE STORY BEHIND

- MINI-NOT A STATUS SYMBOL BUT AN EXPRESSION OF PERSONALITY

BEFORE YOU START….

please look into your camera and tell us slowly your name, city and country… Then you can start reading this paragraph out loud… Have fun!

An interesting little factoid is that the designer of this typically British car was born in Turkey and had only moved to England at the age of 18. From the start, the international press was enthusiastic about the car,

though this did not immediately lead to the success that BMC had hoped for. This simply required more time. The model, which in the beginningcost 537 pounds and suffered from a few infant diseases, required a

number of overhauls over the years. Mostly, these went step-by-step,always searching for the right balance between the authentic aspectsof the original design and the features of the new design. The biggest

changes came in 1962, with the presentation of the Mini Mk2 thathad, among others, larger rear lights, a different grill and a wider rear window. The hinges, which used to be on the outside,

disappeared in 1969, with the arrival of the Mk3.

In 1996, the German BMW Group took over Mini. BMW had ambitiousplans for the brand which was slowly but surely on its way out. Four years later, the last Mini old-style left the factory in Oxford.

- END OF RECORDING-