Marvin tops Mini Census
Over half of the world’s Minis are boys, with the most popular name being Marvin, according to the world’s first ever Mini Census.
The survey, carried out by the organisers of Mini World Live, which takes place at Rockingham Motor Speedway in the UK during July, received responses from Mini owners all over the globe, including New Zealand.
In fact, the youngest respondent was a 17-year old named Luke from Auckland, who has a male Mini called Sheldon, after Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory television show.
The oldest respondent was 80-year old John from Bangor, North Wales, who has a female Mini called Mavis, named after his late wife.
The results show that in total, 51 per cent of the world’s Mini population is male, 35 per cent are female and 14 per cent are neither.
Among the male Minis, the most popular names are Marvin, Tommy (another Cooper reference) and Jack, although there’s a developing trend towards the names Dave, Stuart and Bob, made famous by animated movie characters The Minions.
Female Minis tend to follow a more alliterative tone, with Minnie, Mollie and Millie being the three most favoured names.
Some of the more unusual names that owners have given their Minis include Pingu (white with a black roof), Tetley (because he has more holes in him than a tea bag) and Mojo Jojo (after the evil monkey in The Powerpuff Girls).
Randomly, one correspondent has also named her Mini Leigh Halfpenny, after the Welsh rugby international (because he’s smallish, gorgeous and powerful).
Commenting on the survey, Mini World Live event manager, Katherine Chappell, said: ‘‘Mini owners have a real sense of community, and their cars are just as much a part of that community as they are. Minis, both old and new, are the most celebrated and characterful cars in the world.’’
The Mini brand has a massive history. The groundbreaking original was designed for British Motor Corporation (BMC) by Sir Alec Issigonis. Launched in 1959, it was a marvel of small-car packaging, with a transverse engine and front-drive liberating a massive amount of passenger space relative to the car’s three-metre length.
The original Mini was produced until 2000 and lived many lives during its four decades: from humble city car to motorsport star to fashion icon. The Cooper name became synonymous with the car: legendary racing driver/ constructor John Cooper produced high-performance Minis for a decade, from 1961.