Friday, January 19, 2007

MINI: The Book: More than a car, more than a book

The cult goes on: For everyone who can’t get enough of MINI, there is also now an interesting book. MINI fans will be enthused.

Nearly simultaneous to the 100th birthday of Sir Alec Issigonis and the launch of the new MINI, there is now the first official book about the fascination of the MINI marque. From the design and the development, to the technology and history, up to the MINI CHALLENGE – MINI moved. There is something for every taste in the book, because each chapter has something different to offer.

“Only a single call had transformed Paul Chantryís office in the operationís center into an industry thriller. Up to then it was an ordinary office on the upper floor of a car factory.” Thus begins the thriller, which Joachim Bessing wrote about the transfer of the MINI works from Longbridge to Oxford. This chapter shows how unconventionally MINI deals with supposedly matter-of-fact topics.

Therefore, MINI is also so unique as global marque. Its international adaptiveness is made clear in a photo-chapter. Ten artists from cities such as Istanbul, Buenos Aires, and Hong Kong embedded the new MINI into their culture. It goes further with the Swinging Sixties and the unmistakable British roots of MINI, embodied in the style icons Paul Smith and Mary Quandt. Paul Smith experienced the birth of the proto-Mini in the midst of the cultural explosion of the wild London times: “I was from the outset a giant fan, because the original design was equal to its function”.

In the following chapters among other things the three icons of the MINI era are presented: Alec Issigonis, inventor of the Proto-Mini, John Cooper, who brought MINI to the racetrack, and Rauno Aaltonen, which help bring him fame in Monte Carlo from 1965 to 1967. Three unconventional thinkers, without whom the MINI would not be what it is today. It continues with the journey through the MINI world. The most sensational actions around the MINI are put down in the book. Whether the entry in the Guinness Book of Records, the MINI XXL stretch-limousine, the Bisazza MINI, or as a Christmas tree in London ñ the book shows: MINI is more than just a car. MINI: The Book is a must on the bookshelf of every MINI lover and those who want to become one.

MINI: The Book can be had from HOFFMANN UND CAMPE at a price of 29.90 euro. [Sold by Amazon.de]

[Translated by James from MINI.de]

It appears that right now this book is only offered in German. We’ll let you know if we find it offered in English, either ours or the Queen’s.

Update: We have confirmed the book is in English.†