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In the late
1950s, the British Motor Corporation (BMC) contracted Alec Issigonis to create
a small car offering for the car company. In 1958, a prototype was built and
approved. And in 1959, the MINI was born. Since BMC was formed by a merger of
Austin and Morris, there were two versions of the MINI: the Austin Seven and
Morris MINI-Minor. In 1961 the first MINI Cooper appeared: a high-performance
version developed jointly with racing car constructor John Cooper. By 1990,
MINI was part of the
Rover Group, and in 1994, the Rover Group was purchased by BMW. The new MINI
Cooper went on sale in spring 2002.
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