 Initially the brain child of John Cooper, the owner of the Cooper Car Company, which specialised in building Formula 1 racing cars. It took quite some time to convince the majority of executives at the British Motor Company, that the original Mini design would make a good basis for a high performance vehicle. Once initial concerns were overcome, the design put forward, would allow the manufacture of an inexpensive to purchase, economical to run and extremely high power car for its day.
The original Cooper model, first made in 1861, took the dependable 848cc engine from the Mini Minor, and over bored it to 997cc. This raised the power output from 34bhp to 55bhp, the engine was further tuned using race style performance parts and fuel induction was through a twin pair of SU carburettors. The engine was refined once again in 1964, the original power plant being swapped for the shorter stroke 998cc version.
A second Cooper model, dubbed the Cooper S, was developed alongside the smaller cc, standard production version, and included a larger 1071cc engine and much more effective, servo assisted braking system. Only just over 400 of these models were ever produced, making them a rare collector’s classic. There were also two models produced purely for circuit racing, although they were later offered to the public. The 970cc model was not well received, but the 1275cc model, is broadly regarded as the pinnacle of the performance Mini era. Several other models followed in quick succession, but these were only produced in very small numbers, European manufacturers by now had caught up, and surpassed, the performance of the Mini Cooper in their own production cars, and the performance Mini was quite literally, overtaken.
|
 |
