Inspired by recent VE Day celebrations, I wanted to talk about one of the most iconic (and enduring) British car makers – Mini. Yes, there are some people who would say it’s now a German brand, being BMW owned, but that same group also owns Rolls-Royce, and there really can’t be a question over the heritage of that institution. So, for me at least, Mini is still British.

I’ve driven a few Minis over the years, so I want to talk about their evolution and a celebration of what is, in my eyes, an iconic British brand.

In my time reviewing cars, one of the first I critiqued was the Mini Clubman in 2016; at the time the only six-door car on the market. I loved it – the barn-door rear was really accessible and I remember, even now, the great light show the interior flaunted, thanks to the extra packs specced on the test car.

A few years later, I was lucky enough to be invited by a work connection to attend a day at Prescott, where you could drive whatever you brought along, up the famous hill. Given they knew I reviewed cars, my choice of vehicle was hotly anticipated.

I put a call into a contact who ran a classic car hire fleet and he said I could borrow anything he had. His fleet included a 1965 Ford Mustang, E-Type Jags, an AC Cobra and many others, but I thought turning up in any of them would have placed a lot of expectations on me. When I saw his 1967 Mini, I said “I’ll have that one.”

All eyes were on the Mini

When I arrived, it was the star of the show. There were other cars, including an AMG Mercedes worth a quarter of a million pounds, electric race cars that arrived on trailers and numerous sporty, custom hill climb cars. But all eyes were on the little Mini every time it went up the hill. There was even a rendition of the ‘Self Preservation Society’ sung in the clubhouse in tribute to the car and its star turn in The Italian Job.

It was quite simply amazing – and hilariously, happily and heartily welcomed.

Fast-forward a few years and we bought a Mini 5-door hatch. That was in 2017 and we still have it today. It’s a high-specced Cooper SD model and goes like stink, while being really economical, and we are still massively enamoured by it. It recently went in for a service recall and in its place they gave me a brand new Cooper courtesy car, and it has evolved again.

It was purely an amazingly lovely car to drive – a great integrated display with all the controls, and such a driver-centric experience that every time you get into it, there’s going to be a smile on your face.

That’s what Mini is. A guaranteed smile in automotive form; a symbol of British engineering excellence and, given the aforementioned ownership, a shining example of European collaboration that would have been considered unthinkable 80 years ago.