The world was a very different place when the Mini was officially launched as the Morris Mini-Minor and Austin Seven on August 26, 1959. The M1 motorway had yet to be opened, Coronation Steet was over a year away, there were two TV channels at best, and you had to call the operator if you wanted to phone anyone beyond your local area. Yet, the Mini nameplate is still with us, 65 years on, and the classic shape would stay in continual production for a whopping 41 years.
That legacy is remarkable for a car modestly conceived to be cheap and efficient. Petrol rationing caused by the Suez Crisis led to Brits clamouring for more economical modes of
