MINI transcends class and social profiling for its Anniversary

First mini on its aniversary

Mini Anniversary – August sees the anniversary of the announcement of the first Mini: 26 August 1959.

The Mini show cased developing technology such as front wheel drive allowing a compact vehicle. But it also changed the vision of a small car from being an embarrassment to being a trendy thing. Spike Milligan drove one, as did Lord Snowdon with Princes Margaret.

Motoring journalist and former marketing executive Paul Murrell felt it defined a new social perspective.

I do indeed. David, it was it was such a classless car. And if you can use that word, classes in the right things in that it transcended classes. As you say, some very, very famous people drove and who could have been driving always didn’t care they wanted. And yes, it did, did it?

It was probably the first time in many ways the car didn’t define its owner by and by by its branding.

Motoring Minutes are heard around Australia every day on over 50 radio channels through the Torque Radio networkMotoring Minutes have an average daily audience of over 150,000 listeners. Motoring Minutes are also broadcast as part of Overdrive Radio Program, which is broadcast through the Community Radio Network across Australia and has a weekly audience of over 450,000.

About David Brown 607 Articles
David’s boyhood passion for motor cars did not immediately lead to a professional role in the motor industry. A qualified Civil Engineer he specialised in traffic engineering and transport planning. What followed were various positions including being seconded to a government think-tank for the planning of transport firstly in Sydney and then for the whole of NSW. After working with the NRMA and as a consultant he moved to being an independent writer and commentator on the broader areas of transport and the more specific areas of the cars we drive. His half hour motoring program “Overdrive” has been described as an “informed, humorous and irreverent look at motoring and transport from Australia and overseas”. It is heard on 22 stations across Australia. He does weekly interviews with several ABC radio stations and is also heard on commercial radio in Sydney. David has written for metropolitan and regional newspapers and has presented regular segments on metropolitan and regional television stations. David is also a contributor for AnyAuto