1 reply to this topic

[Haynes]

Does anyone know what year the first Beaulieu Mini Cooper day was?

 

Similarly when did the other big Mini shows kick off?

[mab01uk]

The major Mini shows like Beaulieu and the National Mini Owners Club shows started in 1979 from small beginnings, also was the same year BL organised the Donnington Mini Extravaganza for the 20th Birthday of the Mini.

 

There were a couple of "Mini Festivals" at Brands Hatch in the 1960's at race meetings but the Mini show and club scene of today really started around 1978/9. I won a concours prize at the first ever National Mini Owners Club meet in 1979 at Twycross Zoo with perhaps 50 Mini's in attendance organised by Chris Cheal.....but in those days the competition was a lot less professional as I remember!

Also while sorting out some old Mini stuff in my garage recently I found a small green metal souvenir plaque from the "Mini 21st Birthday Party at Beaulieu 26th August 1980."
I remember going to this and entering the concours as there were very few other Mini events then, also it seemed quite a small gathering after the first Austin-Rover Mini 20th party the previous year (1979) at Donnington.

About this time I also joined the first meeting of members of Ray Holmans newly formed Mini Cooper Club, we used to meet at the Cat Inn, West Hoathly in Sussex, the annual MCC Beaulieu Meeting started soon after with a handful of Mini's camping, it was later taken over by the split away group of the Mini Cooper Register around 1987 and grew over the years into the big annual event it is now.

The first London to Brighton Run started 25 years ago in 1986 and I remember starting from Battersea Park in London and the finish was at Preston Park in Brighton, it started as a fairly small event with a couple of hundred Mini's, organised as now by the LSMOC.
L to B LSMOC Quote:
The first Run was a pretty low-key affair. The LSMOC was only a small club and there was no easy way to let people know about it. There were no Mini magazines back then and only a dozen clubs. Battersea Park and Preston Park in Brighton were booked for a nominal fee. The first Run was held up by bikers protesting about being made to wear helmets. Once the cars were parked we managed to count them and there were just over 200 of them. There was little organised at Brighton and people just looked around the cars and chatted about the run. However, it was clear people really enjoyed driving down to Brighton together. The Club certainly didnt realise how important the first Run was, devoting just nine lines to it in the first newsletter after the event.

IMM Quote:
The IMM originated in 1978 in Germany when it started as a small 3 day camping event during Whitsun weekend. After several years its popularity had grown, and the event had started attracting visitors from outside Germany too. This resulted in an international event, which now takes place in a different country each year, but still over Whitsun weekend. Every 5 years IMM takes place in England and the event is then held around the Mini's birthday in August.
http://www.imm2014.co.uk/imm-history

 

Many other shows started in the early 1990's with the arrival of Miniworld magazine and the renewed interest in the reborn Rover Mini Cooper.

As said there were a couple of 'Mini Festivals' at Brands hatch in 1967 and '68 but these have only recently been revived.

Details & Period Film Clip Here:-

http://mk1-performan...60s_events.html

 

I wonder what the Mini scene will be like in another 30 years time and how many members of TMF here today will still be involved?

Edited by mab01uk, 09 September 2014 - 10:33 PM.