MINI commemorates another rally legend: this time a limited edition was dedicated to the Irish Paddy Hopkirk, responsible for the brand’s first gold medal in Monte Carlo.
The year is 1964, the car is the Mini Cooper S, and the driver is thirty-year-old Patrick Hopkirk (friends only Paddy) from Northern Ireland. The car with start number 37 is the first Mini to win the Monte Carlo Rally. This is followed by two more victories in the same place in 1965 and 1967 (although there was a fourth in 1966, when the first three-place finishers were disqualified for their non-standard headlights), but the priority is for Paddy, so the current limited series, which greets the performance of the MINI 56 years ago. The car bears the former start number of Hopkirk on its ignition key, door and side turn signals, all with a red and white roof, of course. The 17-inch JCW rims are black, as is the grille, and even the front logo, and a bunch of other parts.
űWhere the 37 doesn't show up, there's Paddy Hopkirk's signature, from the sill through the bonnet to the instrument panel. The 33 EJBs embossed on the bonnet were the license plates of the former gold-medalized car.
(Source: vezess.hu / photo: pixabay.com)