It's easy to forget just how many Minis there were. They were everywhere and everyone either had one or knew someone who had one. Just watch a few old episodes of Sweeney or the Avengers, every other car was a Mini.

The Mini changed the rulebook for small cars, they did not have to be slow, dull or boring like the slough of micro cars on the market in the Fifties, who wants a 250cc Gogomobil? The Mini was fast, fun and cool. Really cool.

My first car was a white Mini Clubman saloon. 1974 model. It was three years old and had just 18,000 miles on the clock when I bought it. Four years later it had done 60,000, it was mechanically shot at and the bodywork rotted out - which is why you don't see so many.

It was a brilliant design, very badly made by a company which did not deserve to survive. BMC/British Leyland/Rover Group were continually rewarded for running their business disastrously badly by being given millions and millions of pounds of taxpayers money. It was not the workers fault, it was the management. Had the business and the work force been managed properly they would have not been on strike all the time and would have had some pride in what they were making.