John Cooper grew to become a legend within the Nineteen Fifties together with his racing automobiles, and gave the sporty Mini fashions each their coronary heart and their identify. His descendants nonetheless have petrol of their veins; and to this present day, they proceed to show the Mini into a real sports activities machine underneath the JCW label. A go to to Michael and Charlie Cooper within the south of England. Promise: it’s not simply the sunshine that places a smile in your face.
Many Mini followers throughout Europe know the deal with of the Cooper Storage, situated south of Arundel on Britain’s south coast. Just some minutes away lives Mike Cooper together with his household, whereas his son Charlie has since moved to west London. Anybody who needs to absorb the spirit of Mini ought to spend time with these two. The Cooper house is tucked away, however then behind tall hedges, lush inexperienced lawns, and winding gravel paths, polished chrome bumpers start to gleam—and behind them, pleasant Mini faces peek via classic sheet metallic. Mike Cooper comes over, evidently in good spirits. He has a number of associates visiting from the neighbourhood—and, unsurprisingly, they’ve all come of their traditional Mini fashions. The weathered storage doorways are open, and behind the historic machines, the LED eyes of the most recent Mini JCW GP and a brand-new John Cooper Works Electrical glint underneath cowl. “I simply obtained that one for testing a number of days in the past,” Mike chatters, “unbelievable how fast it’s.”
Mike and his associates aren’t the one ones having fun with the southern English solar and chatting about high quality previous metallic. After a couple of minutes, not solely does son Charlie Cooper arrive, however so does Mike’s spouse. She politely but firmly declares that it’s lunchtime, and sandwiches ought to present some sustenance first. Behind the charming cottage, which Mike purchased within the mid-Eighties, there are massive open areas—ideally suited for a recreation of soccer or cricket. Contained in the little picket home, Mike begins chatting away concerning the first tuning kits that he and his father developed to provide Mini fashions a lift. “These kits have been particularly widespread in Japan within the Nineties,” he recollects, “when the Mini Cooper was instantly withdrawn from the market, and other people wished extra energy than the usual Mini supplied. We bought our kits for £600 with a brand new consumption manifold, air filter, and exhaust system. Due to customs points, I discovered a neighborhood carpenter who constructed us good picket crates to pack the components in.” Rover, which owned Mini on the time, initially confirmed little interest in distributing the kits, so the Coopers reached out by way of private contacts to Jaguar importers to get them into Japan. “When Rover heard that the primary order was for 1,000 kits, they modified their thoughts—and even agreed to honour the manufacturing unit guarantee.”
Within the Nineteen Sixties, John Cooper gave the Mini critical legs and introduced Alec Issigonis’ compact rocket to the podiums of rally occasions like Monte Carlo. Over the many years, increasingly Mini followers wished a style of that motorsport magic in their very own automobiles—and that hasn’t modified immediately. The Cooper Storage nonetheless rebuilds historic Mini fashions from new components—providing as much as 140 PS and costing as much as €100,000. The tuning firm John Cooper Works was acquired by BMW in 2007 because the efficiency arm for probably the most sporting Mini fashions. Charlie Cooper, grandson of John, is simply as Mini-mad as his father and grandfather. In one of many garages sits a black Traditional Mini during which he holds the Goodwood class pace document—round 200 km/h.
The brand new Mini John Cooper Works Electrical, additionally parked in one of many garages, isn’t the one EV on website. A darkish inexperienced Mini van bearing the “The Cooper Automotive Firm Ltd” brand and a white roof appears unassuming, nevertheless it’s powered by an 81 kW / 110 PS electrical motor that burns rubber in a full-throttle dash and reaches 160 km/h. The battery pack is tucked right into a crimson workshop field behind the stiff vinyl seats, and solely two small digital gauges within the instrument cluster—together with the shortage of engine noise—give away its electrical propulsion. “You may simply get 120 miles on a cost,” Mike smiles. Weighing in at simply 600 kg, the tiny van is immaculate and dates again to 1962. On the wall of the personal storage hangs a dusty soapbox automotive that the Cooper Storage used to embarrass OEMs and Components 1 groups on the 2013 Goodwood Competition of Velocity—that includes a physique modelled on a classic John Cooper racing automotive. Within the late Nineteen Fifties, John Cooper was the primary to position Components 1 engines within the rear of his automobiles—a format that is still the usual to this present day.
Charlie Cooper is Mini via and thru. Final yr, he gained his class on the 24 Hours of Nürburgring and often races Minis himself—although presently sidelined by a knee operation that’s prone to preserve him out of this yr’s Eifel endurance traditional. His frustration is seen—even behind darkish sun shades. Charlie likes electrical automobiles like the brand new Mini—particularly the sharp 258 PS JCW model—however he can’t think about giving up combustion engines. “Actually not underneath the John Cooper Works identify,” he smiles. “That would very properly be the final combustion engine ever constructed underneath the Mini or BMW model.”
Mike Cooper additionally sharpened the primary era of the “New Mini” within the early 2000s, a relic of BMW’s takeover of Rover. First, the lacklustre Mini Cooper obtained an influence enhance—then got here the sportier Cooper S. The 125 kW / 170 PS supercharged four-cylinder, with its distinctive whine, was excellent for a tuning improve. “We bought our kits in large numbers. They didn’t simply enhance energy to 207 PS—in addition they added way more exhaust sound.” The Cooper Storage shortly grew to become to Mini what M GmbH is to BMW or AMG to Mercedes—a home-grown efficiency division with a protracted leash, uniquely British and extra progressive than ever.
On the time, M GmbH had no plans for the Mini, so BMW introduced Mike Cooper on board and launched the primary Mini Cooper S by John Cooper Works. Mike nonetheless remembers how the identify of the most well liked Mini of all, the John Cooper Works GP, happened. “There was a two-hour assembly, together with Jochen Goller, who was liable for Mini again then,” Mike recollects. “All the standard sporty names got here up. I recommended GP for Grand Prix, assuming it wouldn’t be closely trademarked. The legal professionals checked—and inside quarter-hour, the identify John Cooper Works GP was set.”
The Coopers have lengthy continued their tinkering custom in southern England with every new era—simply as John Cooper as soon as did. He practically beat Audi to the punch together with his personal quattro-tech, becoming a Traditional Mini within the late Nineteen Sixties with two engines, one on the entrance and one on the rear. “It was a troublesome automotive to drive, with two clutch pedals and twin gear levers,” Mike recollects. “It was too sluggish and unwieldy on the monitor—however on a rally stage, the additional traction was phenomenal.” However after John Cooper suffered critical accidents in a rollover attributable to a damaged rear axle throughout a check run, the mission was deserted—and the remaining is historical past.
For all their Mini obsession, the Coopers’ personal collections aren’t completely Mini-based. “For me, the proper on a regular basis combo is a Porsche 992 Carrera and a Mini John Cooper Works,” Mike laughs, mentioning of the window to his new VW ID. Buzz. He loves the electrical van, particularly as a transporter—although towing it to regional races requires a recharge cease. As for the place Mini and the John Cooper Works label are headed with the brand new electrical period—neither Mike nor Charlie know. However one factor is for certain: “John Cooper Works is racing—simply as my father and grandfather would have seen it. Even electrical.”
