The Cooper S was the brainchild of John Cooper, of Cooper Car Company. Cooper ran a Formula 1 team, and after driving the new Austin Mini saw a ton of potential in what was designed to be a convenient commuter car. Over 4 years of manufacturing...
In Europe and England in the 1950s, skyrocketing fuel prices brought on by the Suez Crisis were driving sales of microcars and so-called "bubble cars". BMC chief Leonard Lord considered these motorbike-powered cars dangerous and uncivilized, so he...