Maximum Mini

volume 2: More mad Mini variants. Written by Jeroen Booij, 128 pages with 510 illustrations, size: 250 x 250 mm, binding: hardcover, language: English

Five years after Maximum Mini was published, Dutch motoring writer Jeroen Booij now comes with a sequel. Maximum Mini 2 describes another 60 cars based on the original Mini - remarkably none of which has been covered in the first volume. The new book is illustrated with over 500 pictures that have not been seen in print before and describes the often remarkable ideas of budding motor manufacturers, much of it obtained by interviewing the designers themselves.
In his researches Booij once more found some cars that were thought lost for decades. Highlights include the Mini Beach Car that was used by the British Royals; Owen Greenwood’s ‘four-wheeled motorbike’, which got banned from racing in the 1960s and the rare Quasar-Unipower City car: world’s first cube car that was wider and taller than it was long. Booij also found the Aurora GT, built for Lotus-driver Trevor Taylor and his sister Anita in 1965, which disappeared some years later.
Some of the cars described are ingenious en beautifully designed; others excel due to the lack of styling, but fine or foolish - this book tells the tales about how they came to be, all of which are fascinating. That the Mini’s mechanicals formed an excellent base for developing a new car is emphasized by the fact that Booij continues his researches for a third volume of the Maximum Mini series.