The fascinating story of the R50 MINI’s difficult birth
Few could have predicted just how good the new-generation MINI(R50) was - and how succesful it would be as a modern classic - when it burst on to the motoring scene in 2001
Any other manufacturer would probably have replaced the original Mini by the early 1970s. But it was the uncomplaining victim of a distinct unwillingness to replace it because it fell under the auspices of BMC, then BL, followed by Rover Group before becoming the property of BMW in 1994. The Mini fended for itself and sold well despite its faults during those years and ended up becoming a classic car that you could buy new.
The matter of replacing the Mini became a whole lot more serious once BMW arrived on the scene and the development Deutschmarks started pouring in, however. Rover’s projects were underway, but weren’t moving fast enough, so BMW opened the field to internal and external design agencies in late 1994 to come up with what it thought a new Mini should look like. Rover wanted to re-invent the small car, whereas BMW favoured a modern-day evolution of the Mini Cooper, similar to how Porsche had developed the 911 over the years.
BMW inevitably won the argument with Frank Stephenson’s brilliant design and Rover was tasked with developing the engineering for this all-new frontwheel drive hatchback in late 1995 under the codename R50 while honing the body into a production reality. This would prove to be a troublesome process, with Rover and BMW engineering teams repeatedly falling out over the delivery of the new car’s suspension and packaging, but the British engineers knuckled down and did a great job in trying circumstances.
It wasn’t such good news on the powertrain front; Rover wanted the K- Series for the R50, but BMW plumped for the Chrysler Tritec unit. The Brits won the gearbox argument, though, proving that its own R65 (nicknamed Midland) transmission would be much better than the expensive, bought-in Getrag unit that BMW wanted.
By 1997, the new-generation Mini PR exercise began while Rover pulled the R50 together. The former Rover-penned Mini replacement projects from 1993 were presented at the Geneva motor show as the Mini Spiritual concepts, while another proposal became the ACV30, unveiled at the Monte Carlo Rally. The main event was reserved for the 1997 Frankfurt motor show when the nextgeneration MINI R50 was shown in prototype form. It was driven on to the stage before being ambushed by journalists but it’s a good job they didn’t look too closely because this was a pure mock-up, and under the skin beat the heart of… a Fiat Punto.
BMW senior management became increasingly impatient with Rover’s lack of profitability in the run-up to R50’s launch, originally planned for the end of 1999, and decided to do away with what the German press unkindly nicknamed its ‘English patient’. Then came the shock – Land Rover was sold to Ford in 2000 for £1.85bn and MG, Rover and (eventually) Longbridge were sold to the Phoenix consortium, while BMW kept the Rover-developed R50 and decided to make it in the recentlyrefurbished Cowley, instead of Longbridge, as originally planned.
That put the introduction a few months back while Cowley was prepared and the R50 further finessed for launch. It had undoubtedly been a MINI adventure, but the press and a new slew of buyers waiting to try this most Cool Britannia of small premium cars greeted the new-generation MINI warmly when the covers were officially pulled off at the Paris motor show in 2000.
PRODUCTION & BEYOND
The MINI went on UK sale in July 2001 and was the subject of a media and advertising campaign the likes of which had never been seen before. High budget TV and cinema adverts screamed MINI Adventure so successfully that you’d have had to have been born under a rock not to know that there was a new Mini on sale by the end of the year.
Entry-level models were served by the One, while more sporting customers could go for the Cooper. The Cooper S joined the fray in 2002 – and introduced a new generation of drivers to the delights of supercharger whine – while the Toyota-engined diesel model was added to the range alongside the interesting, if rather pricey Convertible model in 2003.
Sales were booming, and there was a handsome waiting list for a new MINI, as well as the best residual values in the business, for at least two years. Much of this success was down to marketing as much as the excellent product. List prices were low, but they were bolstered by a long options list to bump up the desirability and price. It was here that the personalisation craze began, with equipment packs and two-tone paint options (and stickers!) truly making your MINI your very own.
Rivals soon cottoned on and we started seeing all manner of rival small cars sporting racing stripes and contrasting roofs – but none as successfully as the MINI. The R50 soon became an international success, taking the US market by storm and being sold globally in a way that the original never was. Rivals sprang up in the form of the Fiat 500, Citroën DS3 and Vauxhall Adam with varying degrees of success, but the MINI remained the coolest of the lot – so much so that the 2004 facelift was a true blinkand-you’ll-miss-it affair.
Like the original Mini, faster models came thick and fast; the John Cooper Works might have been conversions of existing cars, but they were MINI-approved and offered as part of the range through the dealer network. JCW cars could also be specced to a customer’s individual requirements alongside the healthy 210bhp upgrade. The hottest of the lot – the Works GP, of which 450 were sold in the UK – was unveiled in 2007.
The R56-generation MINI that replaced the R50 in 2007 paid its predecessor the ultimate compliment by being almost identical to look at inside and out. The millionth new MINI rolled off the Cowley line just after the R56’s launch, all-but matching BMC’s efforts in getting the millionth ADO15 off the line in 1965.
Today, the new MINI production landmark stands at a cool 5.1 million compared with 5.5 million for the original.