Car Fule

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.

A little history

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.

A Mini produced every minute

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.

Read also :