The MINI brand and the BMW UK group are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the second generation Mini, released on April 26, 2001 from the production plants in Oxford, Great Britain.
The brand MINI, which was founded in 1969 by Anglo-Greek engineer Alec Issigonis, party with the BMW group 20 years since the launch into production of the second generation Mini.
Indeed, it is the 26 avril 2001 that came out of the assembly lines of Oxford (Great Britain) the very first Mini of the second generation (R50), the one that we all know from the BMW era.
Since then, it is more than 5 million copies of the new Mini which were produced on the sites ofOxford and of Swindon to be delivered to their owners.
The group BWM, Mini owner since 1994, from the outset undertook to design a whole new generation of the car which has undergone only slight changes since its launch in 1959. This is how the project took shape, with a first concept car in 1997 .
It was only 3 years later that BMW was able to produce “its” Mini. It had to meet the needs of its time, with a modern and reliable basis, while remaining faithful to the original spirit ofa small agile city car. Aesthetically, the hatchback silhouette, always square and contrasted by a curvaceous face, gives it an instantly recognizable look.
In terms of the structure of the car, the car had MacPherson suspensions, a multi-link rear axle and four disc brakes, which guaranteed driving pleasure much appreciated by fans of the original model.
Today, they are almost 4,500 employees who work at the two sites in Oxford and Swindon. Every day some 1,000 vehicles are produced there, that is to say a rhythm equivalent to one copy every 67 seconds ! Currently, the Oxford site assembles the MINI 3-door, 5-door, Clubman and Electric on the same production line.
Did Lamborghini make a design mistake when designing the Genesis, this funny minivan? To tell…
After having his car stolen, he had found the thieves driving the damaged vehicle… The…
A few days after the reorganization of their alliance, Renault and Nissan are already preparing…
Despite some logistical problems, the Volvo electric truck managed to cover 3000 km in record…
While the price of tolls has risen sharply, the senator of Essonne, Vincent Delahaye speaks…
Intercepted in very high speed, a motorist decided to flee the police. Before an astonishing…
The fourth member of the “Sphere” family of electric concept cars, the Activesphere heralds a…
This website uses cookies.