Mini

There's a lot to say in the biography of a fifty year old and in this delightful book Christy Campbell looks back over the life of a national treasure, from the initial design challenges to its Sixties glory days and the eccentric flaws that made Wellington boots essential driving kit. From its birth in 1959, the Mini grew to become a huge success - Princess Margaret owned one, as did Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, the Beatles, Peter Sellers and Marianne Faithful. As the car was taken up by the new urban elite and took a starring role in "The Italian Job", sales soared. But there was trouble - the basic Mini sold for less than it cost to produce, and by the early Eighties the miracle machine had become a symbol of manufacturing incompetence. The end came in 2000, but a new generation of Minis was just around the corner, and today this motoring pin-up is as iconic as ever. Featuring contributions from those who have known and loved this troubled star, as well as its scornful critics, and full of facts and anecdotes, this is a fabulous celebration of a living national treasure that reads more like the life story of a wayward royal than one of a classic motoring machine.