You might’ve heard that MINI is turning 60 this year. It’s a cause for celebration, that’s for sure, and, to mark the occasion, the British brand brought out a special edition Hatch, dubbed the MINI 60 Years model. It features a couple of cool, unique upgrades and features but, in the end, it’s still the Hardtop we’ve grown to love. Now, the guys and gals from Car Advice set out to see just how much the beloved Mini has changed over these 6 decades and this is what they came up with.
The original was meant to be a budget choice that got you from point A to point B without costing too much. It was meant to be a practical choice too but, once people like John Cooper got a hold of it, things changed. At its core though, the Mini was still a budget car and you can tell that by a number of features that are missing, for example. Take the windows, if you will. Originally, since the UK weather isn’t all that hot anyway, the car didn’t come with roll-down windows. Peculiar, right?
Well, once the Mini reached Australia and its warm weather, it instantly received roll-down windows circa 1961. Due to its great handling, the Mini was also used by the Australian Police Force back in the day, with some 1,000 of these compact bundles of joy wearing stripes over the years. Now, when it comes to comparing the original and the current Mini, you probably know what will be said first. Yes, the current MINI is not even close to the original in terms of size but then again, compared to what’s on sale today, it’s still a really small car.
The design keeps in touch with the original, the same silhouette being visible, despite the larger proportions. The old Mini is surprisingly spacious as well, while the new one disappoints, keeping the size different in mind. The original is also more practical to some extent, even though you will miss a lot of the modern tech the new MINI has on board. But what’s the verdict in the end? You’ll have to find out by watching the video below.
