About this item
Mini celebrates 60 amazing years of this iconic car, from its revolutionary introduction to the popularity of its new-generation models. The first two-door Mini, introduced in 1959 and built until 2000, revolutionized automotive design with its innovative front-wheel-drive layout that made the car appear bigger on the inside than the outside. In 1999, the Mini was voted the second most influential car of the 20th century, behind the Ford Model T. Designed for British Motor Corporation (BMC) by Sir Alec Issigonis and manufactured in England, Australia, Spain, Belgium, Chile, Italy, Portugal, South Africa, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Yugoslavia, the Mini was as successful in competition as it was on the street, winning the Monte Carlo Rally four times from 1964 through 1967.
About the Author
Giles Chapman is an award-winning writer and commentator on the industry, history and culture of cars. He began his career in 1984 in automotive consultancy, moving into magazine publishing in 1985. By 1991, he was editor of Classic & Sports Car, the world's best-selling classic car magazine. Since 1994, he's worked freelance across a huge variety of media. Today, he contributes to national newspapers and motoring publications, and was voted Jeep Consumer Journalist Of The Year in 2005, BCA Feature Writer Of The Year in 2008, and AA Environment Writer Of The Year 2011.He's the author of over 50 books including 'My Dad Had One Of Those' (co-written with Top Gear's Richard Porter) that was a non-fiction hardback best-seller in 2007 and has since sold almost 180,000 copies. This makes it one of the best-selling - and most popular - car books of all time.He has over 350 five-star reviews from Amazon customers.DK's The Classic Car Book, on which Giles acted as Editor In Chief, was awarded one of Auto Express magazine's Top 20 Motoring Products of 2016.His book 'Chapman's Car Compendium' won the Montagu of Beaulieu Trophy in 2008. Dorling Kindersley's 'The Car Book', published in 2011 and on which Giles Chapman was Editor-In-Chief, won wide acclaim as well as advance orders for 81.000 copies in several language editions. He's also worked with BBC Top Gear over many years.Giles Chapman's reputation for painstaking research and entertaining writing is reflected in praise from some of the most demanding independent critics. Here is a selection.Car Badges: 'Superbly researched... crammed with anecdotes, obscure facts on other key elements of car design, and highly authoritative' - London Evening Standard. 'This not only makes sitting in traffic jams more interesting but it's also social and industrial history' - The Spectator. 'Massive, valuable and interesting' - Motor Sport magazine.Chapman's Car Compendium: 'Open this book at any page and you're bound to find something fun' - Autoweek magazine. 'Even the best-informed petrolhead is guaranteed to learn something new' - 4car website.The Car Book: 'Everyone in our office was taken aback by the depth of this impressive work' - Classic & Sports Car magazine, where it was Book Of The Month in June 2011. 'This thumping hardback blows all preconceptions out of the weeds. With a decade-by-decade breakdown of automotive history, it's packed with detail' - Octane magazine.The Land Rover Story: 'Fine investigation into the development of the Land Rover' - Classic & Sports Car magazine. 'Chapman has produced another good 'un with this potted look at Britain's mighty Landie in all its flavours' - Octane magazine.His three new titles for 2019 are Mini 60 Years, The Range Rover Story and The Jaguar Story.
