A very clean and original 1989 Mini City E....

The Mini is considered an icon of the 1960s and has become one of the most famous classic cars of all time.

In 1959 The British Motor Corporation launched the Mini to compete with the bubble cars of the day.

These were a consequence of the Suez crisis in 1956 that resulted in petrol rationing.

Alec Issigonis, who designed the Morris Minor, was asked by BMC boss Leonard Lord to design a car that would drive the bubble cars off the road.

He was instructed to design a car that would seat four, be the smallest car that the Corporation currently made and to use an existing engine.

So the Mini was given the A series engine that had already been used in the Morris Minor and Austin A35 thereby making economical use of existing parts.

The only difference was that it was mounted sideways in a very clever arrangement with the gearbox in the sump driving the front wheels.

This design has been taken up by pretty much every car manufacturer worl...