MINI celebrates 100 years of car production in Oxford

MINI will be celebrating a century of car production in Oxford on 28th March 2013, 100 years since the first Bullnose Morris Oxford was produced.

It’s 100 years since the first Bullnose Morris Oxford rolled out on 28th March 1903, since when 11,655,000 cars have been built – with as many as 28,000 people employed in its heyday – and even Tiger Moth planes and Iron Lungs built alongside 80,000 repairs to Spitfires and Hurricanes during WWII.

What is now MINI’s Plant Oxford was founded by William Morris – and Morris Motors kept control until 1952 – and has been owned and run by BMC, then British Motor Holdings (when Jaguar arrived), British Leyland (when Leyland Trucks, Triumph and Rover joined), nationalisation in the 1970s saw a variety of names, Rover Group arrived in 1986 and was subsequently privatised and sold in 1994 to BMW.

BMW kept MINI but ultimately sold off Rover and Land Rover (which they probably regret now – well, Land Rover at least), since when MINI has produced an astonishing 2,250,000 new MINIs.

During the 100 years of Plant Oxford there have been a huge variety of cars produced, and not just obvious ones. They include:

Now, with MINI investing a big chunk of a £750 million budget on the next generation MINI in Oxford, Plant Oxford moves in to its second century probably in the best shape of its long life.

Which makes the celebration of 100 years of car building in Oxford even more pleasing.

By Cars UK