I'm trying to learn a bit more about the new MINI's history.

Who originally produced the MINI? Did they have any control over the re-introduction of the new MINI?
When did BMW acquire the company?
How much of an influence does BMW have on MINI?
How much of a role did BMW play in the production of the R53 vs. R56?

I'd appreciate any random info you can enlighten me with about the relationship between MINI and BMW.

 

BMW got the Mini name when they purchased Land Rover. The new Mini is a BMW brand built in England. BMW had and still has complete control of design, engineering and production. In a nutshell, Mini is a BMW. PS: You might want to subscribe to MC2 magazine and get some of the back issues, they have tracked the Mini historically very well.

 

Rover Group, not Land Rover. I always though Land Rover was a totally different company from Rover, but Wikipedia says it was part of Rover when BMW bought it.

The original MINI was produced by Austin and Morris, which seem to be part of BMC at the time. Later the company kept changing its name to try to escape its reputation, it was at various times:

British Leyland
BL
Leyand
Rover

The company was calling itself Rover group when it was bought by BMW, who took the name MINI, plans for the new MINI and one factory, then sold the rest of the company back to the management for £1 (and they still couldn't stay in business). MINI is a brand of BMW, one of "the Global Family of Brands" as the girl at the factory says, which includes BMW, Rolls Royce and MINI.

The Rover Mini was a car model, not a make. Rover had had various plans to replace the Mini at various times, the last attempt had produced the Mini Metro (aka Metro, aka Rover 100). Supposedly there were plans for another replacement which became what BMW produced eventually.

Wikipedia has a page on the history of the Mini.

 

Another good reference on MINI History:

http://www.amazon.com/Mini-celebrati...4705237&sr=8-3

 

Another excellent book is Golding's MINI 50 Years, which covers the classic and the new MINI.

At the time of the purchase, Rover had a new design (very radical) in the wings, but the boys in Munich stole the show with the R50. the tritec engine(joint venture with Chrysler (before Diamler)) was chosen over the Rover K-series. These times are covered very well in Robson's book New MINI, which is out of print. the R56 was the opportunity for BMW to flex its engine design talents. the birth of the r56 is detailed very well on Motoringfile.com.

Enjoy!

 

Let's not forget the new R56 motor was a joint development with Peugeot as I believe the very same motor is being used by them too.

 

well, golly!

 

Peugeot is indeed using the prince engine in the 207, etc. BMW designed the engine in both guises, whilst Peugeot makes the bits. Prince engines bound for the MINI are assembled in Hams Hall in the UK. Without the economies of scale Peugeot provides, BMW would not be able to recoup the R&D costs of the prince engine on MINI sales alone.

 

That's interesting, I grew up within 20 miles of there.

 

The R56 Mini (Prince) engine was the offspring of a joint engine development program between BMW and PSA Peugeot to lower development cost for 1.4 and 1.6 liter engines for both companies. This partnership has now been dissolved and both companies own rights to this motor.

 

And the New MINI came to be because BMW had spent a bunch of time and money developing a front wheel drive platform. Front wheel drive is cheaper to produce and assemble and absolutely necessary to compete globally. Their FWD platform had excellent driving dynamics and packaging, but they came to their senses and decided that a BMW must be rear wheel drive and since they owned the rights to the Mini name it was a perfect fit. BMW has since offloaded Land Rover to Ford (Luckily for Ford, the current excellent Range Rover is a pure BMW design, now with a Jaguar engine) and Rover to a Chinese company called Brilliance. Good riddance. Even English people weren't buying them.

 

Yep, that was true back in the fall of 07. Fast forward to May of this year, BMW and PSA are making engines together again. The brief courtship with Benz didn't pan out. So no worries for 2012.

 

Yes I think early on, the Rover designers and engineers were in the center of development for the new Mini but it didn't take very long for BMW to realize that they were not up to the task or at the very least, taking it in the direction BMW wanted and the Rover boys found themselves on the outside looking in..

 

Who originally produced the MINI? Did they have any control over the re-introduction of the new MINI?
The original Mini was developed by Sir Alec Issigonis in response to an oil crisis. It was sold under the Austin and Morris names, which were part of a company called BMC. BMC became British Leyland, which became the Rover Group. BMW bought the Rover Group from British Aerospace in 1994.

When did BMW acquire the company?
BMW bought Rover Group in 1994, which consisted of Rover, Land Rover, and MG cars, as well as some other brand names.

How much of an influence does BMW have on MINI?
At this point I think it's pretty much complete control.

How much of a role did BMW play in the production of the R53 vs. R56?
By the time R53 was in production, BMW had gotten rid of the rest of what they bought as Rover Group. However, R53 was at its core developed by Rover engineers with BMW's financial backing. The story is a bit complicated though, see second link below.

There is some good info on Mini and MINI (BMW insists on the full capitalization) here:

http://www.aronline.co.uk/ado15indexf.htm
http://www.aronline.co.uk/r50indexf.htm

 

Didn't know they had snuggled up again. The way Peugoet did in the 24 hrs of Le Mans it might just be a gooood thing.

 

i am very glad BMW own MINI...

who knwos what would have happen if one of the big 3 in USA own MINI... it could be in the chopping block..

 

Would never have happened in the first place. Ford USA is scared to bring over the Focus RS, let alone the new Focus platform, as it might steal away stang sales. GM is GM. Chrysler is in Hemi heaven (what happened to the new hornet?). So fat chance any of the three would have any insight on the Mini. Heck, Rover Group was content to let the classic wither on the vine with no replacement. To paraphrase, "As long it [Mini] was still street legal, the line would stay in production." At the time of the purchase, Rover was surprised at BMW's interest in Mini as a brand.

the rest, as they say, is history.