MINI back to Bathurst for the 40th Anniversary of its Historic Win

Bathurst in 2006 will resound to the distinctive cackle of MINI exhausts as hundreds of MINI fans arrive for a weekend of celebration of the 40th anniversary.

The special ‘MINI Conquers the Mountain’ event will draw a large crowd of nostalgic MINI lovers, including some former works and privateer MINI drivers from the 1960s and 1970s.

The weekend kicks off with a gala dinner on Friday night, while the 50 special Classic MINIs will be on display outside the National Motor Racing Museum adjacent to the track on Saturday and Sunday.

Joining Bob Holden’s 2006 MINI Cooper S on track for the special parade lap early on Sunday morning will be the CarPoint-backed racer of Publishing Director Mike Sinclair, and the third 2006 works car driven by a special guest of MINI, along with the 50 Classic MINIs.

Included in the parade will be a replica of the original 1966 winner, race number 13C, resplendent in one version of the now infamous Castrol Green paint.

The whereabouts of the original race winning MINI Cooper S are unknown. The car was painted white for its 1967 Bathurst attack, but was later pressed into use as a daily driver, only to be stolen from outside a Sydney nightspot. It was never seen again.

In 1966, the mighty MINI Cooper S racers filled the top nine places at Bathurst - a feat unequalled to this day. In all, 17 MINI Cooper S cars took part in the event that year, along with a bevy of class B MINI Cooper models.

MINI Cooper S cars were a staple of the Bathurst Great Race through to the mid-1970s, racing until their eligibility ran out.

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