Although not due to be released until April 15th according to Amazon.com, yesterday I got my hands on a copy of MINI 50 Years by Rob Golding. Here’s the description from the back cover:

From swingin’ sixties darling to racing champ to twenty-first-century hipster transport, the diminutive Mini has made it big from the first. A favorite among patient, nostalgic drivers and now among new, performance-minded drivers, Mini and MINI seamlessly combine economy and style. With a smart book design as playful as the car that inspired it, MINI 50 Years tells the full story of the iconic car, from its initial launch in the late 1950s through its current superhip BMW-built incarnationóright up to the revised version released in late 2006. The threads that tie together the original Mini and today’s are numerous and fascinatingóalmost as interesting as the differences that set the two cars apartóand MINI 50 Years follows them all.

The bright-yellow hardcover book opens by lifting the magnetically-fastened flap containing the bonnet of the cover MINI. Underneath you see a cut-away view of the engine. The 175 page book is printed on glossy paper with black & white and color photographs on nearly every page.

As you’d expect, Chapter 1 begins with Sir Alec Issigonis and the beginning of the Mini with the famous “napkin” sketches. Soon after are several of Frank Stephenson’s sketches of the MINI. Golding often parallels the Mini and MINI throughout the book, placing photos of the 500,000th Mini and MINI on facing pages, for example.

Chapter 2 continues the history of the Mini from the BL years to the BMW takeover. The development of the MINI follows, with chapters devoted to production and key players: the Coopers, Kay Segler (Vice President, MINI Brand Management), and designers Gert Hildebrand and Frank Stephenson. This comprehensive book then goes into all of the outside aspects of the MINI including Radford, Russ Swift, The Italian Job, MINI and Mini clubs, and more.

Chapter 11 is titled “What’s Next”? but begins with photographs of many customized Minis such as Mokes, pickups, and stretched Mini limos. That leads into the MINI XXL limo and several MINI concept drawings. The final chapter covers the next generation MINI with many side-by-side comparison photos with the original MINI. Appendices contain a Mini chronology, specifications of all MINI Models including the GP, and an index.

Golding has been writing about the Mini for years and his knowledge shows. Although there is a MINI on the front cover, the book balances coverage of the Mini and MINI. MINI 50 Years, along with MINI The Book, would make a great addition to your coffee table or MINI library.