The Mini, now an emblem of the Swinging Sixties, was in fact the product of an age of austerity and shortage, a simple design intended to make motoring more accessible and affordable for the average family. Ironically, it would become something very different: a modern, classless style icon that appealed across the boundaries of social status, age and gender and lent its name to everything from fashion to furniture. Using illustrations from the archives of the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust, Gillian Bardsley here tells the Mini's story, from the inspired conception of designer Alec Issigonis, through the car's shaky infancy and up to its glorious heyday when it was beloved of film stars, royalty and the public, as well as having a prominent presence in motorsport.

Author Biography

Gillian Bardsley is a historian with a special interest in the social consequences of the rise and fall of the motor industry in Britain. She is the author of 'Issigonis, the Official Biography' and has also written books about the Longbridge and Cowley factories and the craft of coachbuilding. As the Archivist of the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust she has contributed to many programmes and articles on TV, radio and in the press.