1972

The Mini means different things to different people. It’s variously been seen as a cheap runaround, a Sixties fashion icon, a legend on racetracks and even a movie star in films such as The Italian Job and The Bourne Ultimatum. The name Mini did not appear by itself immediately — the first models used the brand names of Austin and Morris. The name Austin 7 (sometimes written as SE7EN in early publicity material) recalled the famous baby Austin – the other name, used till 1967, was Morris Mini-Minor. The Mini was produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors from 1959 until 2000 and is the most popular British-made car ever made with five million produced. It was superseded by the new BMW Mini, launched in April 2001.