Mini is much loved for being a real people’s champion. Right from the beginning it was a classless car adored by everyone from rockstars to school teachers. The original really made a name for itself in the rough and tumble world of rally, with its greatest victory now being celebrated in the form of a Mini Paddy Hopkirk Edition car.
Never before or again has the fable of David and Goliath been so perfectly reenacted in automotive form as when Mini won the Monte Carlo Rally. John Cooper had helped create the Mini Cooper, a more performance focused variant of the little car with motorsport ambitions. It was entered into the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally where it was openly mocked by drivers of serious machines. However, Paddy Hopkirk exploited the agility of the Mini to win the event and shame those much more potent cars. It made Hopkirk a hero and the Mini a legend. You can read all about it in one of our latest features.
The new special edition car, named after the famed rally driver, is finished in the same red as the original Mini Cooper S and feature’s the number 37 on the doors – also identical to the rally car. You’ll also find an off-centre white stripe that hosts the 1964 machine’s registration ‘33 EJB’. Hopkirk’s signature can be found all over the new car.
The Mini Paddy Hopkirk Edition can be had as a three-door Cooper S, five-door Cooper S and John Cooper Works hatchback. Additional equipment includes lightweight 17-inch alloy wheels, contrasting black detailing, navigation and the Comfort Pack at no cost.
£27,045 gets you into the Mini Paddy Hopkirk Edition club – quite the treat with just 100 examples being produced. Deliveries of the new car will begin in December 2020.
Keyword: Mini Paddy Hopkirk Edition remembers David beating Goliath