Even 56 (and a half) years after the event, there can't be many more memorable Monte Carlo rally wins than that of Paddy Hopkirk. With co-driver Henry Liddon, Hopkirk defied the odds with a Mini Cooper S, surpassing many more powerful rally cars on the treacherous stages of the Monte to take first place. Despite the Mini's many motorsport achievements after that date, the 1964 Monte remains arguably its best known.
So it should come as little surprise to discover that Mini intends to pay tribute to the success of Hopkirk, Liddon and the Cooper S; indeed the only confusing part is why they didn't do it sooner. Still, better late than never at all, so here's the Mini Paddy Hopkirk Edition. Described as a car for rally fans "to express their passion for racing in particularly authentic way", the PHE will be offered as a Cooper S or a JCW model.
Marking it out from the regular three- and five-door Minis, the Paddy Hopkirk Edition gets Chili Red paint with a white roof, #37 on the door to evoke the 1964 car and a single white bonnet stripe for the same reason. Look really closely and you can see the original car's '33 EJB' reg as part of the stripe, along with Hopkirk's signature dotted around inside and out. While reasonably subtle by the standards of Mini special editions, it's not like buyers are ever going to be any doubt about what they've bought either. The #37 even makes it to the key...
Under the trinkets, the PHE will be identical to whichever of the 192hp Cooper S and 231hp Works models the buyer chooses, albeit with the usual raft of Mini options also available on top. Mini claims that the Paddy Hopkirk "can be tailored to the driver's personal style so as to create an entirely unique specimen", no less. For UK buyers, the Paddy Hopkirk Edition is available to order now, priced from £27,405, with first deliveries in November.
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