Name: How The MINI Cooper Lost Its Cool
Uploaded: 2021-05-26T07:31:05.000Z
Duration: 12 min 19 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

In 2002, one of the most influential cars in

automotive history made a triumphant return to

But less than two decades later, many in the car

world are asking what many is still doing here.

revolutionary design that boosted the British car

industry and helped consumers comfortably save

It was made even more famous by Michael Caine in

the 1969 film The Italian Job, and again by a

The many left the United States in the 1960s when

it couldn't keep up with changes to emissions

regulations. It's returned to America under the

stewardship of German automotive powerhouse BMW

as buyers in this country turn away from small

cars and toward SUV fees in order to survive.

Many is relying ever more on larger crossover

like vehicles that are very different from the

The Mini first debuted on August 26, 1959.

It was the creation of Sir Alec, it's a Ghana's

chief engineer for the recently formed British

Motor Company. A new baby in a famous family and

The British Motor Corporation's many minor BMC

had been looking for a small, very small vehicle

capable of fitting for adults that could compete

with the micro cars developed largely by German

auto companies. Small cars were immensely popular

at the time, due in part to the Suez Crisis,

comfortably fit for grown humans is pretty

difficult. Its eagerness and colleagues pulled a

few tricks that allowed them to have it both

ways. They shrunk the car's wheels and pushed

The gearbox was stacked below the engine in the

oil pan. This highly efficient design gave the

To get the most space out of the four foot wide,

four foot high, 10 foot long car, the doors were

made so thin that window cranks would not fit, so

The wheels were a mere 10 inches in diameter.

Even the door hinges were moved outside the car

It also gave the vehicle excellent, handling the

Gave the mini a wide stable stance and allowed it

The weight of the flipped engine kept the front

of the car very stable, despite its practical

advantages. The car bewildered customers at

Wasn't such a revelation to get in his car, which

It was one of the cheapest cars in the market and

actually start driving it and realize that you

It was in many ways like the Volkswagen Beetle in

that it was something of a classless vehicle

You were buying a tiny sports car and you didn't

So it was a great democratization of driving

The car's unique features made it a favorite

choice for race car drivers in the 1960s.

This eagerness was friends with the British race

car maker and driver John Cooper, who became

enamored with the cars handling and was convinced

Its agonies was initially reluctant, but Cooper

eventually persuaded him to produce the classic

For racing drivers who've grown up with certain

types of cars, with the engine at the front and

the drive at the back. This was just absolute

revelation. Every time somebody got into a Mini

Cooper, they just couldn't believe how well it

went. Mini Coopers placed as high as third in the

famous Monte Carlo rally in 1963 and then won the

race for the first time the following year.

Minis would go on to win in 1965 and 1967, but

the 1969 film The Italian Job is often credited,

even by many itself, as a major catalyst that

boosted the car's reputation around the world.

Actor Michael Caine said that he didn't have a

Subtitles ListPlay Video

How The MINI Cooper Lost Its Cool

boost

crisis

realize

practical