A mini comeback

By ALASTAIR SLOANE

The phone rang. It was a car industry source. "Motorsport Lifestyle in Parnell sold five Minis last month," he said.

Five Minis? In a month? Nah, you're dreaming. Five Minis in a year maybe, but not a month.

"No," said our man. "Five of them, Coopers and Cooper Esses. Out the door. Four of them in the first two weeks, the last one near the end of the month."

Who bought them? "Dunno. But it's amazing - Minis haven't sold like that for 30 years."

Why would anyone want a Mini these days, other than to trip down memory lane?

Sure, they're fun, the lickety-split Coopers and Cooper Esses especially so. But they're 40 years old, for Pete's sake.

This is the 21st century. Cars can be driven by satellite. Computerised brakes can stop them on a sixpence. Rain doesn't affect the electrics either.

Besides, the Mini costs a few bob now, between $31,000 and $34,000. This isn't the carefree Swinging Sixties when the Mini and the skirt of the same name were at the height of fashion and the high-performance Mini was winning rallies.

Why, everyone from pop stars to public servants drove a Mini. Even the wealthy ditched their Bentleys and Rollers for a Mini. They would dart through traffic in London with stickers in their rear windows, proclaiming, "You've just been Mini'd."

Enzo Ferrari used to take to Italian mountain roads in a Cooper S. Actor Peter Sellers used to roar up and down Park Lane in one.

Surely we are not going to see the likes of that again, carefree people in Minis having fun in congested Auckland traffic.

Probably not, because the five Minis didn't end up in suburban garages - they were bought by companies and will be used for promotions.

So how come Motorsport Lifestyle pushed a Mini sales campaign in the first place?

"The first thing we looked at doing was approaching some of our existing customers who were in the promotional business," said Matt Fenton, a Motorsport Lifestyle executive.

"It proved that once you take products like the Mini out of a bigger dealership where they are perhaps neglected or not focused on, there is a potential there for them.

"They liked them because they are different and a 40-year-old design. Many of our customers didn't even realise that the Mini was still being built.

"I mean, it finished second to the Ford Model T in the car of the century. You can't go out and buy a Model T but you can still get a Mini. I think that is special."