Red and White Cooper said:
From what I've read, Rover did most of the design and development.
Indeed, this subject was a hot topic on some of the MG boards a while back. Some disgruntled MG Rover engineers (as well as some ex-Rover, now BMW-UK engineers) did not take kindly to the PR spiel from BMW when the MINI was finally launched, spiel which claimed that following the Rover divorce, BMW in Munich had radically re-engineering the car to bring it up to their standards. A BMW enthusiast colleague of mine brought in a copy of one of his BMW magazines (I think it was "Bimmer") which had a few articles on the MINI. One of the articles carried on at great length about how much of a marvel it was that BMW was able to re-design the car to bring it up to snuff in such a short period of time. One Munich-based BMW engineer even told Automotive News Europe that BMW had to change every fastener on the car over to metric because Rover had designed the car using imperial units (never mind the reality that Rover had converted over to metric back in the 70's when they were still British Leyland).
I'm sure BMW made *some* changes, but by most insider accounts, the car on sale now is more or less the same one Rover designed, the development was about 95% done when BMW took over the project, then most of the final development work was done by Ricardo PLC (no relation
) in the West Midlands. I think all this talk of BMW putting their own imprimatur on the car is about 5% fact and 95% marketing; For many consumers (in the U.S. at least), British cars have a reputation for being fun, having a lot of character, and being about as reliable and well built as a broken watch. BMW is in this to make money, they want to sell cars, so it is in BMW's best interest to try to associate the MINI with a BMW level of design and build quality, not the perceived Rover / British Leyland / Sterling / BMC / MG / Triumph / etc. level of design and build quality. Good for marketing in some respects, bad for marketing in other respects; They have really alienated some fans of the old Minis, MGs, etc.
I've no doubt some Mini driver gave a MINI driver the finger, as described in another thread on this board. Be quite clear on this point; Within the classic British car scene, there is a very definite element which is actively hostile toward the MINI. They may be the minority, but they are there, and they are the loudest ones. I'm not a big BMW fan, but the bitterness toward the MINI engendered by the Rover divorce seems a bit misguided to me. I've read all sorts of vile nasty descriptions of the car on some of the classic British car boards I frequent, many seem unable to resist using this debate to trot out tired old WW2 era grudges, making this a stale old "Huns vs. Old Blighty" debate. I've actually seen multiple posts referring to the MINI as "Germany's latest attempt to reverse the result of WW2". Here's a snip from an actual recent post on one of these boards, posted under the title "The sweet smell of desperation":
But there was a very unusual pop-up ad at the top today..
By clicking on this you were entitled to a free air freshner. Ever curious, I clicked, and lo, it led me to straight a marketing site for the BMiniW, where they banged on about the "Mini adventure" were eager for my details, and when I was looking to change my car, etc, and then, and then only, would I be entitled to the said fragrance-emitting appliance!
I have seen desperate advertising for cars before, but that takes the biscuit. As you all know, I always said the whole thing stinks......
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This is the sort of thing I'm talking about. Yes, there really are people who insist on calling it the "BMiniW". The point is, these posts carry on about what a horrible farce the car is, how it is a pale shadow of the "real" Mini, how it is a marketing sham. Never mind the fact that if the car was being pumped out by MG Rover's plant in Longbridge instead of BMW's plant in Oxford, most of these same people would be tripping over themselves to drape it in the Union Jack and hailing it as the latest British classic. Curious that they don't assail the Aston Martin Vanquish (or Jaguar, Bentley, Rolls, and Lotus) with the same venom they reserve for the MINI, yet all of these marques are foreign owned as well. In fact, one could argue that in terms of design, development, and engineering, the MINI is much more British than the Jag S Type and X Type. But that's a debate for another day.
Bottom line: I'm an MG enthusiast and a British car fan. I own two MGBs, I'm on the list for a MINI Cooper S. I'm not buying it because it's part of the BMW family, if anything I'm buying it in spite of the fact that it is part of the BMW family (I'll admit it, I've got some residual bitterness about BMW's treatment of my beloved MG, I won't pretend otherwise). I have no interest in being part of any sort of BMW club or any such thing. I bear BMW owners no malice, I know they are a fine automobile, but I'm a British car nut, not a BMW nut. Since the first time I started being interested in cars, long before I could drive, I wanted two cars; An MGB and a Mini. I've got the MGB, soon I'll have a MINI, and then I'll be a happy camper.
(stepping off soapboax)
-Ricardo
