The April 2026 MiniWorld magazine has a couple of interesting articles by Kevin Jones - former PR Manager of Rover Group, the first of a regular series of historical reflections with his unique first hand perspective on the promotion of the Mini. He joined British Leyland in 1978 (later BL/Austin-Morris/Austin-Rover and finally Rover Group). Once the Mini became established it needed continuous interest and that role fell largely to the Public Relations function. Ordinarily cars would last a decade or two at most, replaced by better evolutions. To keep a car going in production, relevant and on sale beyond two decades was a challenge that he hopes to help explain more in further stories to follow in future 'From the Archives' MiniWorld articles.
The second article by Kevin Jones on page 78 of the April MW issue, is interesting because it details how he was tasked with sourcing a Mini for 'Her Majesty The Queen's Ruby Jubilee' event in 1992, which took place in London at the Earls Court 2 Exhibition Hall (since demolished in 2015). I remember watching it on TV and recording the Minis featured on VHS video tape which I later uploaded as a You Tube video, as linked below.
Kevin Jones sourced the first 1959 Mini (621 AOK) from BMH to deliver Cliff Richard as a passenger to the stage, (driven by Pat Gadsby a Rover Marketing colleague who was apparently also a massive Cliff fan) and John Cooper drove a new Rover Mini Cooper 1.3i in the parade of British Cars, with Kevin Jones as passenger holding onto the handbrake to slow him down to make the most of the BBC1 TV camera coverage!
Video of the Minis at the Queen's Ruby Jubilee Event in 1992.
"The late Raymond Baxter introduces the Mini as a milestone of motoring on the 1992 Royal Variety Show. A WW2 Spiitfire pilot, an experienced rally driver (including Mini's), Baxter commentated on many different things, but became best known for his work in F1 and the Le Mans 24 Hours before handing over motorsport commentary to Murray Walker. From 1965 he was the presenter of Tomorrow's World, a BBC TV show that inspired an entire generation to be interested in technology. He was briefly put in charge of publicity at the British Motor Corporation while still working for the BBC. He died at the age of 84 in 2006."
