"Cooper" Minis?

[FiremarshalBill]

I know the public generally refer to our vehicles as "Mini-Coopers", and in fact, that's the easiest answer when people ask what it is. But in reality, what percentage of the five million + Minis ever built were actually "Cooper" models?

[Cheleker]

Great question and one with many different answers. Skim through a few books, like Golding's, "Mini, Thirty-Five Years On," (which has figures through 1993), and Pressnell's, "Mini, The Definitive History" and you get slightly different numbers through 1993, and you start wondering about the accuracy of the 1994 through 2000 numbers..

If you count all the early 997 and 998 Coopers, and add in all the later Rover Coopers, and then add in the Cooper S cars, you'll come up with around 4.5% of all the Minis ever made. And that could be stretching it a bit.

For your information, the Cooper S cars are less than 1% of all the Minis made.

[FiremarshalBill]

Thanks Chuck. 4.5% is even higher than I expected. Kinda sad, but most times is just easier to answer the question, "Yeah, it's a Mini Cooper", than it is to try and explain the numerous Mini models, types, manufacturers, and builder history.

[Dixminion]

I find most people that know anything about cars know the difference between a Trans Am and a Firebird. Using that analogy on the Cooper / Mini dilema seems to get through pretty quickly.


Don

[Cheleker]

Or you can reply, "Calling all Minis, "Coopers," is like calling all Mustangs Shelbys." Or something like that.

The Mini Cooper name became even more common after the MINIs started selling in the U.S. in 2002. The only models imported were Cooper (or Cooper S).