Published: Wednesday, 15th July, 2009 12:00pm

Big fans of a small car

You"d think the Mini is all about small and the first model would confirm that, as it was hand-built in just seven hours by Cowley factory worker Albert Green in May 1959. But that time-span (and the car itself) is all that"s small about the Mini.

In a 41-year production run 5,387,862 were made; more than 25,000 people from 40 countries turned up at Silverstone race track in England some weeks ago for a party to mark the Mini"s 50th birthday; and millions of drivers everywhere love these little cars.

Those are all big numbers for such a small vehicle, and they reflect the huge enthusiasm and affection people of all ages have for it.

Among those enthusiastists is Willie McCormack, a Longford native who remembers the first Mini to arrive in that county, in September 1959, when he was working at W&C Pearse"s of Richmond Street in Longford town. There to serve his time, Willie had only been on the team for a week or so when the Mini turned up. He doesn"t remember any fuss like when a new model is announced these days. 'It was no big deal, it was put outside with a few stickers on it,' said Willie.

A new Mini cost about £450 in 1959, at a time when an apprentice mechanic"s parents had to pay a pound a week for him to learn his trade. Thankfully that didn"t last long in Willie"s case, and after a month or so he was getting 25 shillings a week for his efforts.

As a fan of motorised things on wheels, Willie had a BSA 250 (ID 7185) and an Austin A30 - his first car, which cost £150 - before he progressed to a Mini, a green one with a modified cylinder head and twin carbs (BID 427).

'I always liked Minis,' he said. 'They were fast and they had good road-holding. I did the 32 counties of Ireland in a Mini.' His travels included rallies in the 850, which brought him success on his first event. It was a Cavan Motor Club (Willie is a founding member) navigation rally and the prize for winning was £10. 'I gave £5 to my navigator Sean McCabe, bought a round, got drunk and still had change the next day!'

Willie won in autocrosses and autotests too, encouraged by Sean"s words, 'drive her on' and took the Jackson Perpetual Trophy and the Smith"s Garage Trophy three times each.

What did he enjoy most about his competitive driving days? 'Beating other fellas in faster cars and with more money.' Helping his speed were the tuning skills of Billy Clarke, as one of Willie"s cars, (ZW9424) a 970 Cooper S, was capable of eight mph more than any other Mini. Noel Bartley was vital too... he repaired the car 'every time I crashed it!'. When the Ford Escort arrived and gradually became the car of choice for clubmen, Willie didn"t graduate because he couldn"t afford it. But he competed in his faithful Minis till 1977 and says: 'I still enjoy driving the Mini - you can do silly things in it! I don"t do them, but I could. I still enjoy the rallying too and I"m still in Cavan Motor Club [he"s club president now].

'If you want to have fun, buy a Mini (a pre-2000 one, the others chipped in),' Willie concluded.

The group of young Mini fans that were with Willie the evening the photos were taken already knew that advice. Steven Joziasse has several of the wee cars in various stages of roadworthiness, and has recruited his brother and sister to the Mini gang as well.

'I got one about four years ago,' said Steven, 'when I was looking for a car, for something different. I"d always liked Minis, so I took a test drive and that was it.'

He drives the green one regularly and has a red one he once thought about selling but couldn"t let go. It"s in a shed getting fixed up at the moment. His sister Fiona learned to love Minis on the Malin to Mizen run in May, on which she accompanied Cormac Sheridan; now she has her own Mini and Cormac is looking for one too.

Donal Lunney"s dad had four Minis, which is how he explains why he loves them. 'They"re a fun car, small agile, easy to fix. It"s all basic, it"s like a go-kart on the road,' said Donal, owner of the purple Mini in the photo.

Eoghain and Micheal McConnell drove their immaculate Clubman in from Ballyhaise for the evening, along with a few hairy stories ('I had the only Mini that went sideways all the way to Oldcastle,' Micheal claimed).

They bought ZV 349 in England and 13-year-old Eoghain did most of the work fixing it up. It"s now a competition replica, and shares space in the McConnell affections with a 1983 model, which Eoghain is fixing up but keeping totally original.

A Cooper Sport 500 ( X411 JOP) was the last Mini made - driven off the production line at Longbridge on 4 October 2000 by pop singer Lulu. It and the first one made (621 AOK) are exhibits at the Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon in Warwickshire.

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