| Whose 50th birthday is it, though? The MINI was released in 2001, and although I'm prepared to say that the R55/R57 are essentially a development of the R50/R52/R53, you'd be hard pressed to convince me that either is the same car as the Morris Mini Minor/Austin Seven. Although the MINI takes certain styling cues from the earlier Mini, and tries to evoke similar feelings, they're not the same car, any more than a Porsche 911 is a Beetle. | 
