Celebrating 50 Years of the Mini

Mini's Mission
The distinctive two-door car was designed for the British Motor Corporation (BMC) by Sir Alec Issigonis. The car came about because of a fuel shortage caused by the 1956 Suez Crisis (petrol was being rationed in the U.K. and sales of large cars had slumped). Leonard Lord, the head of BMC, reportedly decreed: "God damn these bloody awful Bubble Cars. We must drive them off the road by designing a proper miniature car."

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