MINI John Cooper Works – a tale of remarkable origins - Latest Car News, Bike news & Reviews, Auto News

Some of the biggest car brands in the world today have had an illustrious past on the track. Ferrari, McLaren, Porsche, BMW, Audi, Ford and now Mercedes-Benz are some of the best examples, and they plough billions of dollars in R&D and engineering to give their cars and drivers the competitive edge.

The technologies developed for racing weren’t just reserved for the track – a lot of them have been transferred and homologated for regular road use, often raising brand appeal. MINI has also had its fair share of glory in the world of motor racing, and today we take a look into its lesser known story.

The MINI brand actually started out life in the late 1950s as an affordable, fuel-efficient means of transport. The brainchild of Sir Alec Issigonis was born out of necessity in the post-war era, because fuel was scarce, expensive and heavily rationed. A cheap econobox it was, so to speak.

In another part of town was the Cooper family. Charles and his son John Cooper, through the Cooper Car Company they founded in December 1947, were already building championship-winning Formula race cars. It was only a matter of time before the paths of Alec Issigonis and John Cooper, an avid race car driver himself, would cross.

John Cooper took a real interest in the design of the original Mini, because he knew the car had more potential. He spared no time and quickly turned one into a race car. He bored out the standard engine, fitted twin carburettors, revised the steering ratio, uprated the brakes, and installed a close-ratio transmission for better acceleration. In 1961, the first Mini Cooper was born. By 1964, the Mini Cooper was already a global phenomenon, and in the ensuing years it went on to win a series of high profile championships.

One of its most prolific victories was at the prestigious Monte Carlo Rally. The Mini Cooper, initially thought to be the underdog for being a puny vehicle with a smaller engine, blazed past much larger race cars (including a Ford Falcon with an eight-cylinder engine!) to the chequered flag, a feat no one saw coming.

The pilot at the time was none other than the legendary Patrick “Paddy” Hopkirk. His victory literally made him the UK’s most famous rally driver overnight, and MINI fittingly paid tribute by launching the Paddy Hopkirk Edition. Hopkirk’s Finnish teammates Timo Mäkinen and Rauno Aaltonen also fared spectacularly at the Monte Carlo Rally in 1965 and 1967.

Over the next few years, there would be several dozen iterations of the Mini sold globally. By the time production ended on October 4, 2000 (the same year John Cooper passed), more than five million units of the Mini had been sold worldwide. After that, BMW took full control of the Mini name, and rebranded it to MINI. The classic Mini was given the MINI Hatch designation, because BMW had plans to grow the range – quite literally at that.

In 2001, BMW revived the Cooper badge as an homage to the late John Cooper. At the same time, John’s son Michael Cooper founded the John Cooper Works company as a specialist tuning division for the new range of MINIs. At the time, the tuning kit only increased power by a mere 11 PS (to 128 PS), but fortunately BMW still honoured the warranty for customers who went ahead with the upgrade.

The JCW upgrade kit continued to be an aftermarket solution, and in 2006 a limited edition, pre-tuned MINI Cooper S with the John Cooper Works GP Kit was introduced. At the time, it was the most hardcore MINI hatch ever made, and only 2,000 units were built. It did the 0-100 km/h sprint in just 6.5 seconds.

The seismic shift happened in 2007 when BMW bought John Cooper Works (brand name, engineering and development resources), the same year it introduced the second-generation R56 MINI Cooper hatch. With JCW now in the fold, MINI was able to properly develop high-performance JCW models in-house, complete with bigger Brembo brakes and electronic limited-slip differential.

In 2008, MINI unveiled the JCW Hatch and JCW Clubman, featuring a 1.6 litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine that generated 211 PS. To prove that MINI was serious about performance and the go-kart handling made famous by its rally-winning forebears, it announced the R56 John Cooper Works GP in 2013. Again, only 2,000 units of the model, which did the century sprint in 6.3 seconds from the same 1.6 litre engine, were made.

Fast forward to today, and every model in the MINI range is crowned by a John Cooper Works variant, with the only exception being the Hatch (the honour goes to the limited-run JCW GP, of course). The current crop is more powerful, more dynamic, more practical and diverse too – all necessary measures to meet the demands of modern day motoring.

The JCW GP, JCW Clubman and JCW Countryman are all powered by the BMW Group’s most potent B48 2.0 litre engine yet, offering 306 PS and 450 Nm of torque. These are easily the quickest-sprinting MINI models ever made. Despite being equipped with all the trappings of a modern, stylish car, the not-so-mini MINIs remain as zippy and pin-sharp accurate behind the wheel.

All this to say, cars bearing the John Cooper Works badge are a special breed. Its history trickles far back to the days when Charles and John Cooper started building single-seater race cars for privateers in their garage, using surplus military equipment.

Their most celebrated achievement was the design of a rear-engined race car, a move that went on to change the landscape of motor racing at the highest levels, including Formula One and the Indianapolis 500. When asked why they went with a rear-engine, rear-wheel drive layout, John Cooper simply downplayed the decision and said: “because it was the convenient thing to do.” Who knew that a race car builder would take such a liking for the classic Mini?