In the previous article we saw how BMC (and its successors) worked repeatedly on replacements for the Classic Mini. Most never got beyond prototype stage and those that did never ultimately replaced the Issigonis original. However, by the late 1990’s Frank Stephenson’s designs had been accepted by BMW/Rover and full-scale production was about to begin.

The logical place build the New MINI was Longbridge where the Classic Mini had been in continuous production for nearly forty years. The Rover 100 line was closed down and a massive £400 million investment was poured into the plant to prepare it for MINI, Land Rover and new Rover model production. A large part of that £400 million investment (perhaps up to £200 million) was eventually due to be returned to BMW/Rover by the British Government as their contribution towards regenerating the plant, the company and the area. However, the changeover from Industry Secretary Peter Mandelson to Stephen Byers resulted in considerable delays. At the same time, the high exchange rate of sterling and the lack of productivity at Longbridge were beginning to concern BMW’s board in Munich. At an all day board meeting on February 5th 1999 BMW lost two leading board members (Bernd Pischetsrieder and Wolfgang Reitzle) and Rover’s fate was sealed; the company would be sold.

Retaining the MINI and Land Rover brands was a no-brainer; too much money had already been sunk into the new generation icon and Ford had expressed a strong interest in buying Land Rover. However, with Rover (and Longbridge) now sold to the Phoenix Consortium they had to find a new home to begin to assemble the MINI. Of course, production could have been moved abroad. However, BMW always understood that the MINI is a British car and needed to be manufactured in the UK. There was also the fact that every other plant BMW owned was already working at peak capacity! The solution was obvious: Cowley. The old Pressed Steel/Morris Motors plant was happily churning out the new Rover 75. With that model being moved to Longbridge, Cowley was empty…

In a breathtaking feat of logistics, BMW moved all 229 robots and their computer control technology up to the newly-rechristened Plant Oxford. It cost £230 million (£80 million on the Paint Shop alone) but the plant was ready to manufacture MINI’s in only nine months. There is a school of thought that would say in nine months a British company would still be forming sub-committees to investigate the possibility of planning a project kick-off meeting…

Whilst all this had been going on, Frank Stephenson and his engineers had settled on not just the design of the car but also the mechanical specifications and the model range. There would be (at least to begin with) two versions of the car; a basic entry model and a slightly more expensive ‘sports’ version. From the moment the development of the New MINI had begun, BMW had wisely decided to retain the use of the ‘Cooper’ name for the premium model. John Cooper’s involvement did not end with the agreement on the use of his name; at various stages of the vehicles mechanical development the legendary tuner and enthusiast was consulted to ensure this new model inherited some true Cooper racing DNA. Although he passed away in 2000, John Cooper lived long enough to test-drive several versions of the New MINI Cooper and was on-hand to unveil an early test ‘mule’ at Gaydon in 1998.

As those who saw the car for the first time at Gaydon would have noticed, the New MINI was larger than the Classic. This was a necessity. In the intervening decades between the design of the old and new cars, the average person had grown four inches taller. That average person also expected a lot more sound-proofing and safety features in their car. Lastly, if the New MINI was to fulfil BMW’s expectations of being a car for everyone then it had to be able to sell in the US. Tiny, underpowered European ‘city-cars’ were not going to sell ‘across the Pond’. Indeed, BMW were not even sure the New MINI would succeed; at 3.6 metres long it would officially be the smallest ‘real’ car on sale in the US.

With the car due to debut in 2001, the year 2000 saw work begin on how best to market the New MINI. There had never been any question of sticking a BMW badge anywhere on the car. This was the reinvention and rebirth of an icon and as BMC recognised all those years ago, the MINI brand was strong enough to stand on its own. The man appointed to direct the marketing campaign, Torsten Muller-Oetvoes said: “We had to look carefully at the MINI; what it stood for, and what a MINI really was. We had decided that the New MINI could not be a visual fake, or lookalike, of the older car. We looked at the car in terms of driving fun and in terms of the go-kart feel – all those aspects that had made the old MINI so famous.” This sense of individual identity and fun extended into the planned showrooms and dealerships. Even if they shared floor-space with an existing BMW dealership, the MINI section would be separate and distinct. The cool, professional colours of the BMW brand would be replaced by vibrant reds and yellows; the understated BMW logo would contrast with the bold and brash winged MINI logo which would be splashed everywhere there was spare wall-space.

In October 2000, one week before the last Classic Mini rolled off the production line, the New MINI made it’s debut at the Paris Motor Show…

coming in Part Three: The New MINI Debuts