Few cars in competition have fuelled the imagination like the giant-killing Mini Cooper, the combination of diminutive size, outstanding road holding and punchy power often running rings around the opposition. Following the original 997cc Mini Cooper's launch in July 1961, Pat Moss gave due warning of the car's potential by winning the 1961 Tulip Rally on only the car's second outing, and the following year John Love won the British Saloon Car Championship; it was successes like these that prompted BMC to build a much more radical car, an homologation special to take on the world's best in competition.

Launched in March 1963, the 1,071cc Mini Cooper S was the ultimate Mini, at its heart a much higher specification engine than the plain Cooper's unit, and slightly larger but much more efficient front disc brakes. The increased potential of the S was quickly demonstrated by Rauno Aaltonen's outright win on the 1963 Alpine Rally, followed by Paddy Hopkirk's 1st place overall on the Monte Carlo, 3rd on the Tour de France and 4th on the RAC.

A few months later, in January 1964, the 997cc Cooper was replaced by the 998cc model, and by March 1964 its big brother became available with two new engines, the 1,071cc Cooper S being discontinued in August the same year. The limited production 970cc S was aimed purely at the 1,000cc class in race and rallies, an area in which it was to excel. It is the larger 1,275cc model, however, that is best remembered and with it Timo Makinen won the 1964 Tulip Rally as soon as the 1,275 had been homologated.

The successes continued, including Timo Makinen's victory in atrocious weather on the 1965 Monte Carlo Rally and numerous other wins that year culminating in outright honours for Aaltonen on the RAC. It was in January 1966, however, that the works Mini Cooper Ss caused a furore when all three cars entered finished an impressive 1st, 2nd and 3rd only to be disqualified on the highly spurious grounds of an irrelevant dipped-headlight infringement - unsurprisingly to the benefit of the French, and an embarrassed Citroen team.

1967 arrived and the Mini Cooper S took its revenge in the Monte Carlo Rally. Rauno Altonen and Henry Liddon drove to triumph in the rally of their lives, with the other Coopers finishing 6th, 10th, 15th and 41st. The mighty Mini again received a hero's welcome on its return to the UK.

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