From its launch on 20 September 1961 the Mini Cooper caused a sensation. The world's first sports saloon, the diminutive Cooper combined the glamour and racing heritage of 1959 and 1960 Formula 1 champions the Cooper Car Company with the outstanding handling and downright practicability of the Austin Mini Seven and Morris Mini Minor. Alec Issigonis's little people's car had been launched by manufacturers the British Motor Corporation (BMC) two years earlier. A winner almost from the word 'go' the Mini Cooper not only ruled the racetracks and rally stages of the early and mid-1960s but proved to be a practical and fun sporting family saloon car. With over 100,000 examples sold between 1961 and 1971 the Mini Cooper is still a practical sporting saloon in the guise of the BMW owned MINI Cooper 60 years after the introduction of the original model.This remarkable product of the United Kingdom merits a fresh examination as it nears its 60th birthday. Based upon over 50 face to face interviews carried out by the author between 1999 and 2012, this book quotes the Mini Cooper's designers, developers, and professional race and rally drivers plus a host of contemporary owners. Here then in the words of its originators, is the story of the Mini Cooper.