Mini insurance quotes and insurance groups

Insurance group ratings take into account performance, security, damage and parts costs, new car values, availability of body shells and repair costs and times. What you'll typically find is that cars in lower insurance groups cost less to insure, whilst cars in higher insurance groups attract a higher premium - usually because they are high performance models or have high repair or replacement costs.

First produced in 1959 it did not take long for the British public to fall in love with the Mini. First produced by the British Motor Corporation, the Mini was designed in response to petrol rationing (in 1956) and the influx of Bubble Cars from Germany such as the Volkswagen Beetle. The success of the Mini was largely due to the genius use of space, whereby 80% of the floor space was used for passengers and luggage.

The original Mini was the brainchild of Sir Alec Issigonis, however in collaboration with John Cooper (builder of Formula 1 and rally cars) they created a sporty version of the Mini, the Mini Cooper (1961) and an even more powerful version in the Mini Cooper S. Both of these models were very successful and were produced in tandem with the standard Mini until 2000.

The Mini was so successful that it not only became a true icon of the 1960s (selling over 1 million units) but also a marque in its own right. The Mini became such a cultural icon that it was one of the stars of the 1969 film "The Italian Job" and many music and film stars drove a mini as a fashion statement during the 1960s and 1970s.

The Mini became so iconic that it has won many accolades including "Car of the Century" in a poll by Autocar magazine in 1995 and it was voted "Number One Classic Car of All Time" by Classic & Sports Car magazine in 1996.

Luckily the world didn’t have to wait long for the Mini’s successor as soon after production ceased in 2000, BMW (current owners of the Mini brand) announced that the new MINI would be launched in 2001. The new MINI has also proved a huge success with the 1 millionth rolling off the production line on 3rd April 2007.