The works Minis had a long and distinguished competition history between
1959 and 1970, when British Leyland bosses closed the Abingdon
Competition Department. The car started its competition career chasing
class awards with the diminutive 850cc Mini, but once race car designer
John Cooper persuaded BMC that they should build a hot version, the Mini
Cooper was born and things moved up a gear.
With the introduction of the Mini Cooper S, the car soon became a world
beater. Winning the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally in the hands of Paddy Hopkirk
was a watershed moment which the Abingdon team repeated three times.
During that 11-year period, 77 works Minis were built, competing in more
than 300 events, most of them international rallies. The 1969 season,
when the works Minis went racing, is also covered, along with the
rallycross events.
Works Minis in Detail covers each one of those 77 cars which, in their
distinctive red and white paintwork, were a force be reckoned with
wherever they competed. Build details of every car are provided, drawn
from factory build sheets, with information also on when cars were
reshelled and identities swapped. The details of the events entered and
the drivers are the result of analysing hundreds of contemporary race
and rally reports.
The result is the most in-depth study of the works Minis ever published,
made possible by years of research by Robert Young, a lifelong Mini
enthusiast. As the Mini Cooper Register's ex-works registrar, club
chairman and for many years archivist, he is well placed to write with
authority. A proud owner himself, he has intimate knowledge of the
little red cars.
