In 1961 the Austin en Morris Mini Cooper introduced, a result of the friendship between Alec Issigonis - responsible for the success of the Mini in 1959 - and John Cooper - who, as a constructor, has made furore in the Formula 1.
cooper saw the potential of the 848 cc engine, which only with a different crankshaft with a longer stroke, increased the content to 997 cc. After convincing the management of parent company BMC, the car experienced its introduction in 1961. That is now 50 years ago. The 848 cc Mini standard had a capacity of only 34 hp through the other crankshaft, mounting two SU carburetors instead of that one and some tinkering with the cylinder head, delivered the trolley in standard tune 55 pk. For improved acceleration and a higher top speed, the gearbox and differential have also been changed. In order to better control that power (...), the pre-mounted drum brakes were changed into discs. At a rapid pace, a thousand copies had to be built for such cooper get homologated for motorsport. In 1964 the cylinder capacity was changed to 998 cc by drilling out the engine block and mounting a crankshaft with a shorter stroke. Thanks in part to the car-sporting successes, no less than 64.000 Mk1 Coopers with an 997 or 998 cc engine were built and 16.000 units of the Cooper Mk2. The Mk3 is never like cooper been delivered. The Austin en Morris Mini Cooper 'S' saw the light of day in 1963.