One of the most recognizable British auto icons, MINI, is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its MINI Plant Oxford. This plant is famous for the fact that the first classic Mini model was assembled there back in 1959—602,816 more MINIs were produced there within the next ten years with yet more to follow. Since MINI is closely connected with the plant, the brand decided to launch an ambitions European tour to celebrate the centennial birthday of the factory that contributed to its multi-decade history.
Pic.: MINI Plant Oxford celebration logo, www.since1913.co.uk
The tour features five Oxford-built MINIs, which will be travelling to eight former classic Mini production locations across Europe from March 13–27. The celebration will culminate on March 28 at the final destination of the odyssey, Oxford. The brand’s fans can track this journey on the specially-created website, on the brand’s Facebook page as well as on its online community forum www.minispace.com, where the brand will be positing updates from the latest stop-off. During the tour, MINIs will visit Novo Mesto (Slovenia), Milan (Italy), Malta, Vendas Novas (Portugal), Pamplona (Spain), Seneffe (Belgium), Amersfoort (Holland), and Dublin (Ireland). Only three of these locations are the centres of car production today.
Separately, in collaboration with the design magazine Dezeen, MINI is launching another global tour that will be making stops in eight cities, too. The aim of this design-focused tour is to uncover the freshest emerging talents and trends the 2013 [MINI’s] design calendar has to offer. The new MINI Paceman, the hero of the expedition, will land in four continents—the first stop was Cape Town, the next one will be Milan, and after that the vehicle will stop in New York, Berlin, London, Beijing, Singapore and Eindhoven during most influential design events in these locations. View the program here.