Share
More than ten million Minis have been built and sold worldwide since 1959 and almost as many of the new ones have been built in the 20 years under BMW (5.13 million) as in the previous 40 years of the original (5.38 million).
Yet the timing of the original Mini s launch could not have been better, arriving as a classless and affordable small car loved by celebrities, royalty and ordinary folk alike, who took it to their hearts just in time for the Swinging Sixties.
The Oxford factory currently builds the Mini three-door and five-door Hatch, Mini Clubman and Mini Electric on the same production line
It s not every day you drive to the lyrical strains of an Oscar-winning composer who has pulled out all the stops just for you.
But such was my fate when I got behind the wheel of BMW s new iX3 sports utility vehicle to take it for its first drive on UK roads before it reaches customers in Summer.
That s because it s the first BMW car for which Academy Award-winning movie composer Hans Zimmer has written a soundtrack in collaboration with the firm s sound designer Renzo Vitale.
Striking the right note? Composer Hans Zimmer has written a sound-track for the iX3 in collaboration with the firm s sound designer Renzo Vitale. But is the drive award-winning as the sound it makes?