In the late 1950s, the British Motor Corporation (BMC) contracted Alec Issigonis to create a small car offering for the car company. In 1958, a prototype was built and approved. And in 1959, the MINI was born. Since BMC was formed by a merger of Austin and Morris, there were two versions of the MINI: the Austin Seven and Morris MINI-Minor. In 1961 the first MINI Cooper appeared: a high-performance version developed jointly with racing car constructor John Cooper. By 1990, MINI was part of the Rover Group, and in 1994, the Rover Group was purchased by BMW. The new MINI Cooper went on sale in spring 2002.
