One million 3-door Mini’s have been built since the third generation Mini was launched in November 2013. Rolling off the Mini Plant Oxford assembly line to mark the occasion was a British Racing Green all-electric MINI Cooper SE. The factory, located about 55 miles northwest of London, is celebrating its 110th anniversary.
Racing has always played an important role in Mini's history. Race car driver John Cooper developed the first GT model in 1960. Mini won the 1962 British Touring Car Championship and the famed Monte Carlo Rally in 1964, 1965 and 1967.
Mini USA and the Mini John Cooper Works Race team are competing in the SRO TC America series again this season. They were the series runners-up in the manufacturer’s championship in 2022 in the TC (Touring Car) and TCA (Touring Car A) classes. 2023 SRO TC America races take place from April to November at race tracks across the United States including Sonoma Raceway, New Orleans Motorsports Park, Circuit of the Americas, Virginia International Raceway, Road America, Sebring International Raceway and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
In 2020 Mini released the most powerful and fastest road going Mini ever offered. The 2021 John Cooper Works GP had a 2.0 litre turbocharged 4 cylinder engine with 302 hp and 332 lb-ft of torque. Its 8-speed automatic transmission helped launch the JCW GP from 0-100 km/h in 5.2 seconds on the way to its top speed of 265 km/h. Each John Cooper Works GP was individually numbered and limited to just 3,000 units worldwide.
We had the opportunity of spending a day with race car driver James Vance and the 2017 John Cooper Works Mini. James was competing that year in the 2017 IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series in the ST class in his No. 37 Mini JCW.
Official details and images of the all-new fourth generation 2025 Mini Cooper have not been released yet.
Photography & Videos by Mini and TrackWorthy
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