‘MR MINI’ ON WHAT MAKES THE CAR SO SPECIAL

Chris Hope catches up with the man who’s become synonymous with the Mini as its greatest ambassador – 1964 Monte carlo rally winner, Paddy Hopkirk, and finds out why he rates it

CHRIS HOPE: ‘what’s your first memory of the Mini in competitive motorsport?’

Paddy Hopkirk: ‘It was fairly early on in the Mini’s life; I was driving big ‘Healeys and MGs for BMC at the time and remember turning up at Oulton Park and being told “this is the new Mini Cooper”. I tried it and it was lovely. Alec Issigonis put the engine in sideways to make more room inside, but in making it front-wheel drive he probably didn’t realise what he was making. It was a worldbeating car.

‘ The fact that it was small was good because the snow banks on the Monte Carlo Rally meant that the road became quite narrow, so while the big cars had a lot more power, the Mini could go more sideways – there would have be no room for them but plenty for the Minis!’

CH: ‘what was it like to drive the Monte in the 1960s; how different is it from today?’

PH: ‘It was an adventure and you didn’t know what was around the corner. You didn’t know whether the route was going to be blocked or there was a level crossing down or a truck overturned. You didn’t even know the weather. So the anxiety was the most difficult part of it.

‘It was just under minus 40 degrees Celsius when my codriver, Henry Liddon, and I left Minsk in Russia and we didn’t know if the mechanics were going to be at the pre-arranged check point or not. They might not have got through the border because it was tricky between Poland and Russia in those days.

‘And then of course the start times and finish times were taken off the stages and those guys all drove separately to Monte Carlo. They sat down with comptometers and subtracted the start time from the finish time and worked out the times, so nobody knew. I got a call at 4am in the morning from Bernard Cahier who was a French journalist and he said “I think you’ve won the rally.” I remember falling out of bed – we’d no idea.’

CH: ‘How does rallying a Mini differ from racing one on the circuit?’

PH: ‘Rallying was you against the clock, whereas racing… well let’s just say that good manners don’t always go with circuit racing! When you’re actually on a loose surface stage or a snowy stage and you get the balance right, it’s like you’re making the car dance. It’s a great feeling and the teams of drivers were all very friendly because although we wanted to beat each other, we weren’t actually hammering each other. It was us against the clock.’

CH: ‘and why is it you think the Mini became such a beloved icon?’

PH: ‘It was built as the district nurse’s car by Alec Issigonis but it was bought by everybody. When you went up to a big mansion there would be two Minis outside – one belonging to the cook and one belonging to his lordship… even if that one was a Cooper S. It was a classless car.’