Mini's major boost

By ALASTAIR SLOANE, motoring editor

BMW plans to boost Mini production by 10 per cent over the next few years to meet demand for current models and planned diesel and convertible variants.

That will lift annual Mini output at the Oxford plant in Britain from 160,000 to about 180,000 units.

BMW executives in Germany admit that the popularity of the car has taken them by surprise, especially demand for the premium Cooper S.

The go-fast model accounts for about 70 per cent of production so far. Originally, BMW thought the less powerful Mini Cooper would dominate build numbers.

The success of the new Mini has meant new business for British high-performance house John Cooper Works, which has provided tuning kits for Minis since the early 1960s.

But unlike the old models, where go-fast modifications were often made under the house at home, the new kits can be fitted only by accredited Mini dealers.

Said Mini New Zealand manager Peter Jarratt: "The decision to offer the after-market performance kits for sale through Mini centres was only possible due to the very high standard of the package.

"Extensive testing was undertaken to ensure the power increases and emissions were within acceptable limits and reliability would not be affected."

The Mini Cooper kit includes a modified cylinder head, new air filter, changes to the engine management and a new low back-pressure exhaust.

It uprates the Mini Cooper's power from 85kW to 93kW at 5750rpm and its torque from 149Nm to 155Nm at 4700rpm. The zero to 100km/h time is down from the standard car's 9.2s to 8.9s.

The kit for the Cooper S includes a new supercharger and drive belt, modified cylinder head, changes to the engine management programme and a sports exhaust.

The package boosts the car's power from 120kW to 147kW (200bhp) at a high-revving 6950rpm. Torque increases from 210Nm to 240Nm at 4000rpm, giving the car much improved mid-range performance. The 100km/h sprint now takes 6.7 seconds against the standard car's 7.4.

The Cooper kit is priced at $6900, the Cooper S at $10,900. A wider range of aftermarket parts from John Cooper Works, including seats and alloy wheels, is likely to be available on special order only.

Mini New Zealand is also evaluating special Cooper company sports seats, available in the same range of colours as the standard seats.

The Cooper Car Company was founded in the late 1940s when British race driver John Cooper and his father Charles began building small racing cars.

Their first car, the Cooper 500, set the standard and made possible a new world of affordable motor racing.

Early customers included Stirling Moss and five times world champion Juan Manuel Fangio, who drove the company's first Formula 2 racing car.

Through the mid-50s and beyond, the first Cooper rear-engined Formula 1 car challenged the big guns Ferrari, Maserati and BRM, who still raced with front-mounted engines.

In 1958, Moss drove the Cooper Climax T43 to victory, making it the first rear-engined racing car to win a world championship race.

In 1959, Jack Brabham won the first of two Formula 1 constructors' and drivers' world championships for Cooper in a Cooper Climax.

In the early 1960s, the company made an immediate impact on the rally and racetrack world with the Mini Cooper, a go-fast version of the original Alec Issigonis-designed Mini.

Cooper turned the car into a giant-slayer. The Mini Cooper won the Monte Carlo Rally in 1964, '65 and '67, and only a hotly disputed disqualification over a technicality in 1966 prevented a run of four straight wins.

Despite the Mini Cooper's success and popularity, production was stopped by the British Motor Corporation in 1971 after 150,000 units had been built.

But Cooper himself kept the Mini Cooper name alive, producing tuning kits and accessories in the 1980s to convert Minis into Mini Coopers.

In 1990, the Mini Cooper was brought back to life and Cooper continued to produce numerous special models of the sporty Cooper S.

John Cooper died in December 2000, a few months before the launch of the BMW Mini. The John Cooper Works business in Sussex is now managed by his son Michael.