Classic Mini colours from 1959 to 2000
Film star, racing hero and cheeky little runaround, the Classic Mini is first and foremost a British icon. Designed to meet the challenges of a petrol shortage, this tiny car influenced the car manufacturing industry.
Despite its tiny dimensions, the 2-door Classic Mini was still a 4-seater because it made 80% of its internal space available for the driver and passengers.
With a (less than)1 litre engine and weighing only a touch over half a tonne, it was a nippy and economical ride too.
And don’t forget the influence of classic car paint - the style of this little motor is part of a perfectly irrestible package that you still see on the roads decades on.
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What made the original Mini so influential?
British Motor Corporation (BMC) launched the Mini in 1959 and its successors continued to manufacture it until 2000. From herein, it became known as the Classic Mini because BMW now owned the brand and were producing it afresh.
Anyway, back to the good old MK1, which was known as the Austin Mini 850. Developed by Alec Issigonis, the Austin Mini boasted that its engine was mounted transversely in the front and had front-wheel drive.
“It delivered a four-seater saloon with optimum use of space and offered agile and safe performance, making it a pleasure to drive,” says BMW, which now owns the marque. “It was quite rightly hailed as a milestone on the way to the modern small car.”
Mini in the movies
It’s not only the Classic Mini’s engineering and design that’s been influential on a global level - it’s the aesthetic. It’s a cultural icon, a fate sealed when it started appearing on big and small screens across the world.
- The Italian Job (1967)
- You Only Live Twice (1967)
- Live and Let Die (1973)
- The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
- Moonraker (1979)
- Bean (1997)
- The Bourne Identity (2002)
- Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)
While 3 Classic Minis appeared in The Italian Job (1969) - a red, a white and a blue with racing stripes and attitude - stunt Mini Coopers from the 21st century accelerated the action in the 2003 remake.
Minis keep their value
A quick online search shows older Minis are still incredibly popular and even vintage cars over 20 years old have often done lower-than-expected mileage.
- Quirky 1971 Mini in Porcelain Green and cream, 100k on the clock - £18,000
- Stunning Mini in white with full-colour Union Flag, 40k on the clock - £7,500
- Classic Damask Red Mini with 25k on the clock - £12,500
- Neglected Mini in rusty Surf Blue and white with 70k on the clock - £3,000
The 10 best-selling Mini colours
The prototype for the Classic Mini was nicknamed ‘Orange Box’ but the Austin Mini was launched with a colourful classic car paint palette.
Classic Mini owners are among our most regular customers - they know we can mix an exact match to their car’s original colour. Our best-selling colours are below - but we can mix any classic paint colour under the sun. (We can also colour-match any modern BMW MINI.)
- Mini Black
- Tahiti Blue Pearl
- British Racing Green
- Brookland Green
- Blaze
- Flame Red
- Old English White
- Inca Yellow
- Antelope
- Cornflower Blue
Find your classic Mini car paint code
Unlike modern cars, where we’re able to look up your car colour with your reg, ordering original classic car paint requires a code. You can get the paint code from a car club or other specialist website, a dealership, or the manufacturer.
Bear in mind, with classic paint colours there can be multiple codes for the same colour. For example, they can have a BLMV or BLVC code which can also have an ICI, Glasurit or PPG equivalent code – all which would create the same colour.
Confused? Don’t be! Just let us have your paint code and we’ll make sure you get the right colour of vintage car paint for your Classic Mini.
How to order your touch-up paint
Simply enter your paint code, make, year and key (basic) colour into our car paintsearch tool and follow the instructions.
As classic car paint suppliers, we’ve also made it easy to order directly from our Classic Mini product page.