A Made in Britain special
"...we roared down the circuit once, and then he said: That will do, got out, and said: You go and make it."
These words sounded the start of a revolution - the mini revolution. The two men in the dialogue were Sir Leonard Lord, then head of B.M.C., and Alec Issigonis his designer - now Sir Alec.
It is ten years since the birth of the mini whose chunky boxiness and twisted-round engine made it seem an ugly non-starter to the sceptics.
Now - two million minis later - the chunkiness has become charming; the transverse engine a commonplace. Abroad more minis have been sold than any other British car; on rally courses the mini ruled the sixties.