Desirable Cars
MINI CLASSIC ICONS

Desirable Minis

In 1966, three Mini Cooper S entries finished first, second, and third at the Monte Carlo Rally — only for French officials to strip the result after an eight-hour inspection over a headlight bulb technicality.

Giant-Killing, Literally

Few underdog stories in motorsport are told as often as this one. The Mini Cooper S won the Monte Carlo Rally outright in 1964 and 1965, but 1966 produced its most controversial moment: Timo Mäkinen, Rauno Aaltonen, and Paddy Hopkirk crossed the line in a clean 1-2-3 formation, with a British Ford Cortina fourth, only for scrutineers to disqualify all of them after finding the cars' auxiliary headlights used single-filament bulbs rather than the dipping double-filament type fitted to showroom models. The disqualification handed victory to a Citroën instead, and even that car's own driver reportedly refused to celebrate — a decision still debated more than half a century later.

The Mini came back to win outright again in 1967, closing out a genuinely remarkable four-year run against far larger, far more expensive rivals on some of the toughest roads in Europe. Below is the model we've covered so far.