Rare Pre-Production 2001 Minis Now on Display

We Welcome 2 RARE pre-production Minis to Great British Car Journey

I have been accused of unreasonable bias towards the Classic Mini over the new car which will soon be celebrating its 25 th anniversary. However, having owned two of the first generation new cars, I would like to put the record straight by stating once and for all that the Mini launched in 2001 is a most worthy successor to the car launched 42 years earlier.

I bought a 2004 Cooper S not long after opening Blyton Park Circuit in 2011 and have extremely fond memories of many fast laps in that car. I also bought a Cooper in full Rallycross spec and enjoyed a couple of seasons competing in the Blyton rounds of the Clubman’s Rallycross Championship.

Thanks to my friend Paul Coulter, we now have two of the new cars on display at Great British Car Journey.

Production of the new Mini did not officially start until April 2001 but cars were being produced in small numbers from September the previous year at the Cowley factory where Morris had started volume car making many years earlier.

The first car is the 109th new Mini produced and it was destined to become a Press car. The early cars were fitted with a glass sunroof borrowed from a contemporary Citroen and the one in this car shattered when it was on a Press Launch in Scandinavia. As a result the outer roof skin has been fitted over the old roof as can be seen by the pop rivets in the boot which are holding the outer skin in place.

These pre-production cars were all registered on plates featuring the letters OBL and there were 135 of them. They are now very sought after as part of the transformation of the Mini from the wondrous machine launched in 1959 to the best selling Modern Mini which has also taken the World by storm.

We are extremely grateful to Paul Coulter who has lent us this very rare pre-production piece of Mini history.

The other is a pre-production Cooper S. If there was criticism it was that the Cooper available at launch was rather lacking in performance and therefore did not deliver the thrills of the original car launched decades earlier.

The launch of the Cooper S in 2002 certainly addressed the criticism as the S had a new power train which delivered over 160 bhp from a supercharged engine mated to a six speed gearbox. This gave the Mini a top speed of 135 mph and a 0-60 time of 7.3 seconds and the suspension was suitably tweaked to cope . Needless to say that even with a price tag of £14,500 at launch in June 2002, the Cooper S was soon flying out of the showrooms.

This Cooper S was a worthy successor to the famous 60s model which had conquered all on the Monte Carlo Rally and achieved giant-killing success on the race track.

This is a pre-production car built in May 2002 and we are again grateful to Paul Coulter for the loan of this little pocket rocket.

Today I drove his very tidy pre-production 2002 Cooper S home from Ambergate.

I have never driven a Classic Cooper S but my Dad owned one a number of years and I remember that car very well. Both Mum and Dad absolutely loved that car due to the incredibly live driving experience it delivered.

Paul’s car has done 115,000 miles but still feels incredibly taut and rattle free. I really like the way a supercharger delivers extra power in a very linear way and again this well used car still has plenty of punch to offer. The most important plus point is that although it is undeniably bigger and much heavier than the original cars, it still has that cheeky spirit which makes you want to use all the revs and chuck it around corners with brio. You also feel that you are in a descendant of the original car : instant steering response, phenomenal grip and plenty of power.

Of course, an original Cooper S would undoubtedly need considerable work after 100,000 miles but this car has just been regularly serviced and has been in constant use.

I really believe that Alex Issigonis would have been impressed with the new car. He would bemoan the lack of storage space inside, the lack of ashtrays would be a problem as would the overall increase in size and weight.

Ironically, the original Mini was a testament to function over form whilst the new car has combined both elements to great effect.

Frank Stephenson must be applauded for creating a form that more than pays homage to its much -loved ancestor. In an era ever more dominated by hideously similar SUVs, Crossovers and Blandobuses, the new Mini stands out as a car that you want to drive as soon as you see it. The interior with its slightly crazy instruments and switchgear also involves you in a good way with proper switches and information on a need to know basis.

Sales of the car have been amazing and provided a much needed boost to British manufacturing for almost a quarter of a century.

It is perhaps a shame that today’s Mini Cooper owners will be blissfully unaware that Cooper won back to back F1 World Championships before turning their attention to Issigonis’s little car, but anyone driving a Mini Cooper today will soon realise that their car is a pedigree machine with over 65 years of real genius behind it.

So yes, just as when I drive my 2001 Mini Cooper Sport, my drive home today in a 23 year old Cooper S, left me wishing there was another ten miles of deserted B road at my disposal to enjoy the thrill of driving that only a Mini can deliver over and over again.