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Last night more than twenty MINI’s of every vintage gathered on Portsdown Hill overlooking historic Portsmouth.  This is a regular event held on the first Thursday of each month.  Originally a chance for Portsmouth and Southampton MINI Owners Club members to enjoy a burger in the sunshine, the event has grown and there is a warm welcome for any MINI owner. If you are anywhere near Portsdown Hill next month, why not pop along?  There are few better ways to spend a warm summer evening!

We saw some exceptional MINI’s last night.  You can find a gallery here.

Late last year, South Coast New MINI unexpectedly lost one of it’s founder members; Malcolm ‘Max’ McKinley.  His life has been remembered and celebrated by many people in many ways, but the club members decided one of the best ways to commemorate him would be to arrange a run and barbeque in his name.  All profits would go to Max’s favourite charity Help for Heroes.

You can see a gallery of run photos here.

This past Sunday saw the latest MINI Cooper Day held at Beaulieu.  Organised by the MINI Cooper Register, this annual event is one of the foundations of the MINI event calendar.  As ever, the weather was spectacular and the number of MINIs at the show must have surpassed any previous record.

This show holds a special place in my heart as, back in 2005, it was the first event I attended with my MINI.  Since then I’ve seen the show expand each year, both in the number of cars attending and the number of visitors.

This year being an especially important anniversary, the boat was well-and-truly pushed out with ‘The Fifty’.  For the first time anywhere, the MINI Cooper Register had arranged a complete display of MINIs from each year of production - 1959 to 2009.  That was tried at the London to Brighton Run but they were not quite able to pull it off.

I attended with the Portsmouth and Southampton MINI Owners Club and my silver Lohen-tuned MINI was resident there at what must have been one of the best stands at the show.  I also spent large parts of the day with my friends from South Coast New MINI.  Even wthout my help, the guys and girls from SCNM had pulled off one of the largest and most impressive club stands.  Now all we need is a flag…

You can find an extensive gallery of photos here.

MINI was firmly in the top ten best selling vehicles in the UK during May 2009.  A report by SMNT puts MINI in the number seven slot in the sales chart for that month ahead of even the Ford Mondeo which came in at number eight.

Although the ongoing credit crisis means sales were down over a quarter compared with the same month last year, MINI actually increased it’s market share.  Demand continues to improve and not only is MINI seeking to reintroduce weekend working at Cowley, but its also looking to reemploy 250 of the agency workers released several months ago.

You can read the original SMNT report here.

Over the last couple of weeks a number of anniversary special edition MINIs have been announced.  Several had their official unveiling at MINI United and full details have now been released by MINI.

You can read in-depth specs of all the cars, and browse more photos, by visiting here.

MINI John Cooper Works World Championship 50

In the mid-1960s the classic Mini’s profile on the world stage was boosted by a trio of giant-killing Monte Carlo Rally wins. It was the sports car tuning expertise of the legendary John Cooper that set Mini on its course in motorsport. 50 years on, MINI will launch the most exquisitely finished, highly specified and desirable model to ever bear the Cooper name; the MINI John Cooper Works World Championship 50.

Finished in John Cooper’s signature colour - Connaught Green - the flagship model is based on the Hatch version of the current MINI John Cooper Works.

The 1.6-litre, 211 hp turbocharged John Cooper Works-tuned engine sits beneath a body featuring numerous specification upgrades, both inside and out.

MINI 50 Camden Special Edition

Predominantly silver, white and black in colour, the MINI 50 Camden has a striking appearance. Its dynamic character is denoted by body paint in White Silver metallic, in combination with a solid white roof. The MINI 50 Camden will also be available in Midnight Black or Horizon Blue metallic finishes.

A 17-inch alloy wheel in an all-new White Shield design is exclusive to this model and is notable through contrasting silver inner surfaces and matt, polished contour lines around the outer edge of the rim.

Bonnet stripes extending from the headlamps toward the car’s A-pillars are finished in an almost 3D silver stripe trim, accentuating the futuristic appearance of the car.

MINI 50 Mayfair Special Edition

This uniquely-specified model seeks to capture the rich heritage and traditional features of the classic Mini. Styling features including unique 17-inch, 12-spoke Infinity Stream alloy wheels finished in white, three dimensional bonnet stripes in an all-new Toffee metallic finish, additional headlights on the radiator grille, mirror caps in black with Hot Chocolate pinstripes and a discreet “Mayfair” logo positioned next to the car’s indicator lenses are all fitted as standard. The MINI 50 Mayfair is available in Hot Chocolate or Midnight Black metallic finishes with contrasting white roof, or Pepper White solid paintwork with black roof.

Seats in Leather Lounge specification reflect the car’s classic exterior design cues. The white piping against Toffee-coloured leather is set off by stitching in a turquoise-green hue. The ‘Mayfair’ logo again features on the front seat backrests.

You can read in-depth specs of all the cars, and browse more photos, by visiting here.

From early on Friday right through to Sunday evening, perhaps the largest MINI event ever is being staged at the legendary Silverstone Circuit.  The MINI United event only happens once every two years and this is the first time the its been staged in the United Kingdom.  In this fiftieth anniversary year, it was inevitable the UK would stage the event and where better to hold it then the circuit closest to the MINI current production facility, it’s true birthplace and it’s undisputed spiritual home.

We visited the MINI United on Saturday.  In addition to the hundreds and hundreds of cars of all ages on display, there were numerous activities to partake in and things to see.  Designed as a festival as much as a show, it would be perhaps helpful to describle a MINI United as a ‘holiday resort’ for people and their MINIs where every activity is themed around the world’s greatest motor car.

We made the club stand area our base (more paticularly the South Coast New MINI stand) and during the day were able to periodically return here.  The main tent domainted Silverstone and contained MINI-themed shops, bars, and displays of new highly-tuned JCW cars.  A village of food outlets had been erected outside the huge main tent providing any type of food you cared to order.  The main stage next to the tent would play host to a range of musical acts each evening of the event and would be headlined on Saturday evening by Paul Weller.

Past a lovely display of MINIs (one from each year of production 1959 to 2009) more display MINIs continued to arrive during the day.  Special respect must go to the convoy of cars from Russia, Estonia and the Ukraine.  Next stop was the Silverstone track itself for MINI 7 and MINI Challenge racing.

Special mention must go to the display of famous or historic MINIs headlined by the very first MINI; the immaculate 621 AOk.  Also present were the three classic 1960’s Cooper S MINIs from the original The Italian Job plus the blue MINI Cooper Mark Wahlberg drove in the remake.  Next to this stood Sir Michael Caine’s MINI fromGoldmember.  Also present were the two MINI’s designed in 1999 by Kate Moss and Paul Smith, the camoflage MINI designed for the launch of the Madonna album American Life.  David Bowie’s chrome MINI and the first electric MINI E were also displayed here along with several other vehicles most of us had only ever seen in books or magazines.

The final part of the day, or myself and my MINI, was a change to drive vigoursly around the famous Silverstone track and exit the event through the pit lane and down the Copse Tunnel.  By this time exhaustion and overtaken exhileration.  I’ve visited many MINI events since 2005, but without hesitation I can state that MINI United 2009 is the biggest and the best.

Photo Gallery 1 - The Event
Photo Gallery 2 - Club Stands
Photo Gallery 3 - The First MINI
Photo Gallery 4 - Famous MINIs

In a move sure to cheer the hearts of all MINI fans, MINI Plant Oxford (or Cowley as it was called when Sir Alec designed and built the first MINI there fifty years ago) has confirmed it has increased production in order to cope with an upsurge in demand for MINIs. The Oxford Mail also reports workers are being consulted on revised shift patterns to help cope with fluctuation production levels.

You can read the Oxford Mail article here.

Several MINI sites (prime amongst them MotoringFile) are reporting that the upcoming MINI speedster may make it’s debut - in concept - at the Frankfurt show this autumn.  Not only that, but some of the necessary technological developments and refinements may see the light of day first on a future coupe version of the current R56 platform.  Although we have suspected a speedster version of the MINI for a while, news of a coupe has come as a surprise to most.

Both the speedster and the coupe will be aimed at the portion of the market that value performance and speed.  Although they will make use of the standard engines, both cars will be lighter and sleeker than the standard hatchback or cabriolet.  As with all MINI models, there will be a range of models available.  Alongside the Cooper S there will be a Cooper and probably even a more economical One derivative.

You can read the original MotoringFile article here.

This weekend saw the annual London to Brighton Run.  For twenty-four years the London and Surrey MINI Owners Club has been organising this fantastic event.  It has become one of the biggest events on the MINI calendar and tickets always disappear very quickly.  In this fiftieth anniversay year, the event was particularly historic.

Each year well over 2000 MINI’s old and new gather in Crystal Palace, some on Saturday and some on Sunday, before the run itself starts on Sunday morning.  All the cars slowly wind their way through the South London traffic before hitting the A32 (or M23) and setting course for the historic seaside resort of Brighton.  Once there, one all the cars park and one of the biggest and best shows of the year begins.

This year also saw an attempt to break the record for a convoy of single-make vehicles.  This record currently stands at nearly 900, but the organisers of the L2B were very confident they could beat that with over 2000 MINIs at their disposal.  Under the scrutiny of representatives of the Guinness World Records all the cars were arranged into three rows and although this caused quite a delay in getting the MINIs out of Crystal Palace, it may prove to have been worth it!

You can check out a gallery of photos here.

As well as being a very special anniversary in the life of the MINI, this Friday also saw the first of the small MINI events held annually on the quayside at Poole.  Every Friday over the summer Poole close the quay to all but a certain make of car and four times over that period the MINI is the featured car.  On Friday, I joined my friends from South Coast New MINI for the event.

You can check out a gallery of photos here.