In Pictures: Mini still a motoring heavyweight 60 years after its birth

By Press Association

August 9, 2019, 1:32 pm

Celebrations at the Mini Plant Oxford (Aaron Chown/PA)

Sixty years after its introduction, the Mini remains a familiar sight on the UK’s roads, with the 10 millionth vehicle having rolled off the production line.

Britain’s answer to Germany’s Volkswagen Beetle, France’s Citroen 2CV and Italy’s Fiat Cinquecento became a symbol of national pride and helped many achieve the dream of a family car.

The model has been constantly updated since 1959, but the vehicle has become part of the national story.

60th anniversary of the Mini — The Mini Plant Oxford celebrate their 60th birthday with vehicles from across the years (Aaron Chown/PA)

BBC Countryfile Live 2019 — A Mini Countryman takes on an obstacle course at BBC Countryfile Live at Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire (Steve Parsons/PA)

60th anniversary of the Mini — The assembly line in 1959 at the British Motor Corporation’s Longbridge site in Birmingham (PA)

60th anniversary of the Mini — The first built and oldest Mini, a 1959 Morris Mini-Minor, at the company’s plant in Oxford (Aaron Chown/PA)

60th anniversary of the Mini — The Mini Plant Oxford celebrate their 60th birthday (Aaron Chown/PA)

60th anniversary of the Mini — Noel Edmonds joined Austin Rover workers in 1986 to celebrate the 5,000,000th Mini car to roll off the Longbridge production line (PA)

60th anniversary of the Mini — Workers spraying the body of a car on the assembly line at the British Motor Corporation’s Longbridge site in Birmingham in 1959 (PA)

60th anniversary of the Mini — Workers cheer as the 5,387,862nd and final classic Mini rolls off the production line in 2000 (David Jones)

60th anniversary of the Mini — A Mini with another popular British export, Mr Bean, played by Rowan Atkinson, celebrating the bungling character’s 25th anniversary (John Stillwell/PA)

60th anniversary of the Mini — A new Morris Mini-Minor, about to set off on a round-the-Mediterranean trial run in 1959 (PA)

60th anniversary of the Mini — Alec Issigonis, creator of the Mini car range, drives the 1,000,000th Mini off the production line at the Longbridge, Birmingham in 1965 (PA)

60th anniversary of the Mini — Mike Fisher, 70, the oldest and longest serving employee of the Mini Plant Oxford celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Mini Cooper (Aaron Chown/PA)

60th anniversary of the Mini — The front grill of a Mini at the company’s plant in Oxford (Aaron Chown/PA)

MINI Electric launch in Oxford — The Mini Electric, unveiled at the Mini factory in Cowley, Oxfordshire, is a recent addition to the family (Jacob King/PA)