Selling 5 million and 3 thousand units during its time, the tiny car called the Mini proves that size is definitely no basis of power or sales rates. The Mini cleanly takes the cake and is by far the most popular British-made car ever produced, hands down. Paving the way for a generation of space-saving front-wheel-drive layout automobiles, the Mini is considered and icon in the 1960s. An unquestionably revolutionary and distinctive car, most would not believe that it was created at first simply in response to an oil supply crisis.

The Mini was designed for BMC by one Sir Alec Issigonis, who was known to have outstanding skills with designing small cars. It became apparent soon enough that Issigonis is a natural at the task. The project was tagged as project ADO15, which means Austin Drawing Office project number 15. Because of the fuel shortage caused by the Suez Crisis in1956, sales rates of large cars took a breath-taking dive, and Leonard Lord (who was then an autocratic head of BMC) ordained that something be done and it had better be done quickly. Lord laid the basic design requirements: the model must be contained in a box measuring 3 x 1.2 x 1.2 meters and that the passenger accommodation must occupy 1.8 meters out of the 3 meters length. And because of the short budget for the model, Lord decreed that the engine must be an existing unit.

The team who worked on the Mini is as small as the model is. Consisting of only of a handful of people including Jack Daniels, who worked with Issigonis on the Morris Minor; Chris Kingham, Issigonis' former colleague back at Alvis; four draughtsmen and a couple of engineering students. The original prototype of the Mini was first completed in October 1957, and was promptly given a pet name: "The Orange Box".

Aside from being a cultural icon, the Mini became a fashion statement during the 60s and the 70s. Many celebrities toted Minis customized by famous British coach builders, the most remarkable ones include Peter Seller, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, Marianne Faithfull, and George Harrison. Peter Seller's mini was wicker side-panelled and was built by Hooper, the Rolls Royce coach builder. This Mini appeared in Seller's movie "A Shot in the Dark". Seller's wife, Britt Ekland, also owned her own Mini de Ville with a special rear estate wagon door, built by Radford. Radford also built Mini de Villes for John Lennon and Marianne Faithful. The psychedelic Mini that made an appearance in the Beatles film "Magical Mystery Tour" was owned by George Harrison, who took care of it and had it restored.

The affordability, simple style, and the easily attained used Minis made it a favorite choice for body replacement. A number of extravagantly modified Minis include the promotion stint for Outspan company, which used the Minis as base for three street-legal cars made to look like giant oranges; A Mini that was made to look like a half-timbered cottage.

Even after years of Mini's production run, there are still an ample amount of Mini parts available. The Mini parts are intended both for restoration and performance parts for race tuning. Astounding feat for such a tiny car, isn't it?