Virgin Books

From its birth in 1959, the Mini grew to become a national treasure and huge success: Princess Margaret owned one, as did Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, the Beatles, Peter Sellers, and Marianne Faithfull. Its popularity with women in particular marked it out from the crowd, and sales soared as the car was taken up by the new urban elite and took a starring role in The Italian Job. But there was trouble—the basic Mini sold for less than it cost to produce, and by the early eighties the miracle...