World famous Mini turns 60: How the car has changed and is about to become electric

The Mini was made famous by The Beatles, Mick Jagger, Steve McQueen and The Italian Job film. Now it’s turning 60 and it has a more modern look ahead of it.

Michael Holloway might be Australia’s biggest Mini enthusiast.

The Victorian Mini Club president owns several of the charming cars including a Cooper S he has raced since the 1970s.

“There’s no car more iconic,” Mr Holloway said.

“Every time you drive one it makes you smile.

“It’s such a universal car. When it was first introduced it spanned the whole of society - pop stars had them, ordinary people had them, even royalty had them.”

Minis found homes in many famous driveways. All four Beatles band members owned them, along with The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger, actor Steve McQueen and Italian supercar godfather Enzo Ferrari.

Starring roles on screen with The Italian Job, Austin Powers and Mr Bean reinforced its appeal.

Actor Michael Caine in a scene from film 'The Italian Job' (1969).

Next week, the Mini marks its 60th anniversary with a breakthrough electric model at the Frankfurt motor show next week.

Tipped to go on sale in Australia for about $50,000, the Mini Cooper SE hatch represents an important step for a brand with a strong following here and abroad.

Originally shaped by British designer Sir Alec Issigonis, the Mini turned the motoring world on its head by rotating the engine so that it ran from left to right, instead of front to back. Driving the front wheels allowed a remarkable amount of space for a compact car.

Michael Holloway keeps him self fit racing cars. In total he has 17 cars. Michael pictured with one of his racing Mini's. Picture: Sarah Matray

Australian advertising claimed the Morris 850, later known as the Mini, offered “the most inside space per foot of car ever… you get more room for heads, legs and luggage than in many cars twice the size”.

“It parks like a pram,” promotional posters said at the time, “No wonder Morris 850 is the man’s car women are crazy about.”

The original Morris 850 sold for $1550 in 1961.

Michael Holloway, 64, is a Mini enthusiast. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

But high-performance Mini Cooper S models with 1.25-litre engines required customers to part with $2280 in 1965, a little less than the much larger six-cylinder EH Holden family sedan.

Those cars came with twin fuel tanks and a reinforced floor which made them tougher than British cousins.

Mini’s greatest moment on local soil came at Bathurst in 1966, where the Cooper S took victory and filled the first nine places, a record no brand has matched.

Victory on Mount Panorama helped establish the car’s local legend, and good examples of the Mini Cooper S fetch strong money today.

Shannons Auctions dropped the hammer at $53,000 on a 1969 Mini in March, describing well-preserved examples as “highly desirable collector’s cars”.

Jaws dropped at Melbourne’s Motorclassica auction when a pristine example sold for $91,650 in 2017.

Mark Wahlberg standing next to a mini used in the 2003 film The Italian Job.

Police adopted the Mini with mixed reviews – hundreds were pressed into service in NSW, while only a couple went to Melbourne in 1967.

Brunswick inspector J. S. Hannabery told The Herald Sun at the time the Mini was “a fun car to drive, but whether they stand up to our work remains to be seen”.

Melbourne police dubbed the Mini “The Peanut Patrol”, though its 110mph top speed was no laughing matter.

An Australian panel van version was dubbed the Mini K for kangaroo, sold as a “great leap forward” combining the national mascot’s ability to carry precious cargo for long distances without often stopping to drink.

Sydney factories in Zetland and Enfield built more than 176,000 Minis to Australian specifications, along with a further 26,000 open-topped Mokes.

Racing car driver Bob Holden drives his Morris Mini Cooper to victory in the 1966 Hardie-Ferodo 500 race at Mount Panorama, Bathurst.

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Originally intended as a general purpose vehicle for the British military, the Moke found favour in Australia as a cut-price car for sunny weekends. Dozens of the simple roadsters found their way onto Magnetic Island off the coast of Townsville, where tourists explore its limited road network at a leisurely pace.

Australian motoring writers reacted warmly to the car praised for its efficiency, space and road holding.

The Adelaide Advertiser said the Morris 850 “must be tried to be believed”, combining a “staggering amount of room inside” with “splendid performance and handling characteristics”.

Sydney’s Sunday Telegraph was similarly effusive, saying it has “real performance unmatched by any comparable car”, and the Courier Mail found it “handles so well as to be foolproof”.

Mini was acquired by BMW in 1994, which went on to reinvent the marque with an ever-expanding range of vehicles including all-wheel-drive SUVs.

It dabbled with small numbers of electric Minis overseas in 2010 before putting a battery-powered car into mass production this year.

The Mini Cooper SE will combine a 135kW electric motor with a compact battery offering at least 235 kilometres of range, a little less than rival hatchbacks such as the Nissan Leaf.

Pitched as “perfect for city dwellers living fast paced lives”, the electric Mini joins a raft of models promising affordable motoring in the near future.

While Mr Holloway has a modern Mini in the garage, he has not put his name down for the electric version. Not yet.

“That’s what we will be driving in the future,” he said.

“I’m not ready to buy one yet, but it’s something that’s coming.

“If I have to buy an electric car it might as well be a Mini.”

Originally published as World famous Mini turns 60: How the car has changed and is about to become electric