There's no stopping the Mini

Mass Mini mania is coming, with fans of the compact little car flocking to Nelson to mark 50 years of Minis. Alice Cowdrey meets some of Nelson's most enthusiastic Mini fans and learnt about the car's link with Nelson.

Any Mini driver will tell you their car inevitably attracts more than its fair share of attention from other motorists. Its dinky lines, tiny little wheels and skinny roof look a bit peculiar among today's sleek Japanese designs and 4WD roadhogs.

For the last week of August in Nelson, all eyes are guaranteed to be on a swarm of the cars that will be zipping this way to celebrate 50 years of cruising close to the ground and parking in small spaces.

The scene may well trigger Mini memories for many or maybe just those age-old thoughts, such as how on earth the car has stood the test of time, and how anybody ever got their entire family and the week's shopping home at the same time.

The 50th anniversary celebration being held in Nelson from Sunday week, August 23, until the following Sunday, has not been taken lightly by the Nelson Mini Car Club, which has been planning for five years to give the car the salute it deserves.

The Mini has been made famous over and over again, whether through Mr Bean's antics (he drove a Mini Leyland 1000), the original classic 1960s caper movie The Italian Job (starring three Mini Coopers in a legendary chase), or the 1981 New Zealand movie Goodbye Pork Pie (in which a yellow Mini 1000 tackles a helter-skelter trip the length of the country).

Nelson played a role in the car's history, too, with Minis being manufactured at the New Zealand Motor Corporation plant in the city for two years in the 1970s. It is that connection that helped to settle Nelson as the location for this month's celebrations.

Thirty years ago October 5, 1979 the then Nelson Evening Mail marked the car's 20th birthday with an article that opened with words that would have been a suitable for the introduction to this story: "Some cars just don't fade away, and so it is with the Mini. The little car has retained its popularity over the years mainly because of its size and economical running, especially in the era of the energy crisis."

The Mini 1000 then weighed 615 kilograms and retailed at $6000, compared with the $1767 when it was first manufactured in 1959.

Now, if you look on Trade Me, souped-up versions of retro models sell for $25,000. A "tartan red" 1969 two-door coupe is $12,000. You can pick them up for a lot less, too, of course, with $2600 buying a 1974 Mini Leyland that "needs a bit of work".

That would probably suit Nelson Mini Car Club member Tim Churton, who owns five Minis at the moment but has owned more than 30 during the past 15 years.

He mainly just does them up and sells them on, but also cruises around in them, with his car of choice at present a blue 1980 Mini Clubman.

"It's something to do I'm retired. They are nice little cars, easy to park good shopping baskets. Everyone waves to you in a Mini," says Mr Churton, smiling.

"They make you feel good when you're behind the wheel," adds Mini enthusiast Glynis Grocott. She has a powder-blue 1981 Mini Leyland City. The word "Minnie" is emblazoned in pink letters across the rear window; a bunch of Minnie Mouse toys bob around as she zips off down the road. She has a giant Minnie doll that sometimes sits in front with her.

"I just like to get in it and drive the car. People say, `oh, I had one like that', or the kids say, `yay, the Mini give me a ride in your Mini'."

Minis weren't entirely about short little cars with pixie wheels for urban dwellers. Some members of the Mini family were designed for greater things. Like desert missions.

Nelson Mini club member Paul Davies owns two Mini Mokes (a quirky cross between a Mini and a Jeep), which were designed to be used as a military vehicle.

Mr Davies, who says Moke is a slang word for donkey, says the model was designed to be small enough to drive on to aircraft carriers, or be parachuted into hard-to-reach destinations. He says his bright-yellow 1967 Moke was the 64th to be made in Australia and the model is still being made in China.

The youngest member of the club, Jayden McQuade, 15, owns a 1978 electric-blue Mini Clubman, which he bought when he was 12 for $1000. It was mustard-yellow with "standard wheels and hub caps". Now it is hotted up, shiny with a tidy interior (his granddad did that), complete with Mini embroidered badges on the head rests (his granddad got that done somewhere). It has tints and Jayden has cut out a sunroof leak-free with a jigsaw.

"There are a few people who get a bit jealous because it's quite good for a 15-year-old's car," Jayden says. "They are just so fun to drive because they are so small. They feel like a go-kart to drive. I think I will always have a Mini."

Various historic accounts of the Mini record that the original Mini motorcar was produced by the British Motor Corporation in England in 1959 to be a lightweight, agile four-passenger car that took up minimal space. Britain was subject to fuel rationing in the wake of the 1956 Suez Crisis, and British consumers clamoured for vehicles that offered optimum fuel efficiency.

The Mini was designed by Alec Issigonis who, legend has it, was a chain smoker and provided the car with an ashtray, but also liked silence, so didn't include a radio.

By the time the "classic" Mini ended its 41-year production run in 2000, 5,387,862 had been built in 137 variations. BMW now produces Mini hatchback, convertible and Clubman body variations with a diesel engine option. But these new ones aren't really Nelson boat builder Dave Pinker's cup of tea. He likes the older ones, like his white 1973 Mini van which he uses as his day-to-day work-horse.

"This is pretty rare, it's the only one in Nelson. I can throw all of my stuff in the back."

Mr Pinker, who has owned Minis for 43 years and has owned 19, says Minis perform "very, very well", especially on hilly roads.

Nelson brothers Peter and Dick Vining sold the vehicles at the family car sales business, Vining and Scott Ltd, which was founded in 1927. They were assembled in Auckland after being imported in parts by Dominion Motors.

Peter Vining says there was considerable interest in the cars which were quite revolutionary.

They were an entirely new design concept and front-wheel drive. It was the first time people had seen cars where the motor and gear box were in one engine casing, with gears that ran on ordinary engine oil rather than high-pressure gear oil.

"There was a lot of scepticism about that because it was unheard of."

The car was used as more of a shopping basket than a family car and was very economical, running 60.19 miles per gallon (12.8km a litre). It held to the road well, Mr Vining says. "It could really scoot along."

There was a strict allocation of how many Minis Vining and Scott could sell and they were constantly trying to source them.

The Nelson Mini Car Club, which started seven years ago, has about 50 members. Well over 200 cars are expected to attend the week of celebrations, which has been dubbed the Great Mini Party, with people coming from around the country, Australia and Britain.

The event will probably be the biggest of its sort to be held in New Zealand and is open to all Mini owners, regardless of make, model or condition of their vehicle.

The main public event will be the showing of all cars two weeks from today, at the Enza packhouse complex at the Richmond end of Nayland Rd.

During the week of celebrations there will be no competitions for "the best of anything", but a series of tours, including one to Golden Bay, and loads of social events. The club intends to share any profits made from the event with the Nelson Hospice. "It's a party, not a nationals or anything like that," Mr Davies says. "It's just a fun week."

THE GREAT MINI PARTY

In the 50th birthday, organised by the Nelson Mini Car Club, more than 200 of the cars will join tours around the region from next Sunday for a week.

In a tour to Golden Bay on Tuesday, August 25, the first Mini will arrive in Takaka as the last leaves the Enza complex, Richmond.

The next day, August 26, is the Mini's actual birthday, the anniversary of when the first model rolled off a British production line.

A park-up and public viewing of all the Minis will be held at Founders Heritage Park on Friday, August 28, from 1pm.

The main public event will be the showing of all cars two weeks from today at the Enza packhouse complex at the Richmond end of Nayland Rd.

The celebrations are open to all Mini owners and are not limited to Nelson Mini Car Club members.

Any profits made from the week will be shared by the club with the Nelson Hospice.

- © Fairfax NZ News