Munich/Scarperia. The classic Mini is a legend on four wheels, and its fans are loyal and love to travel. This year they will be getting together in the northern Italian province of Mugello for the 2013 International Mini Meeting (IMM). A tradition-steeped event held first in 1978 and then at a different venue each year ever since, the IMM is the world’s biggest meeting of the Mini club scene. The event grounds in Scarperia, north of Florence and near the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello, will be the meeting venue for classic Mini fans from May 16th to 19th 2013.
The program has been compiled by the hosts to entertain the worldwide community and features live concerts, automobile exhibitions, competitions, joint excursions and lots of party action. The IMM 2013 also reflects the fascinating history of this unique British car, and its diversity will be impressively documented by the fleet of participants’ own cars. Nowhere else do so many representatives of different sections of the brand’s history assemble: from lovingly maintained classics dating back to the early years through to the very latest individually styled MINI models.
A revolutionary space concept, classless style and fascinatingly agile handling were what gave the classic Mini its exceptional status on the international automobile markets from the very beginning. These fundamental qualities were reproduced in all the numerous model versions created back in the 1960s, accounting for the enormous popularity of the classic Mini to this day and revived in modern form for the 21st century in the new MINI. This is one reason why fans and drivers of the new MINI have been part of the IMM community for many years.
So in Mugello, too, there will be brand new MINI models produced in 2013 parked alongside the Morris Mini Minor and the Austin Seven. The MINI Clubman will meet its ancestor, the Morris Mini Traveller. And the Mini Cooper S from the 1960s – once the base model for the cars that won the Monte Carlo rally – will measure up against today’s top sports model, the MINI John Cooper Works. And because the IMM is a true family get-together, even the less well-known relatives will be in on the act: these include the Wolseley Hornet and the Riley Elf, elegantly fitted small cars which transferred the genes of the classic Mini to two other British Motor Corporation brands, likewise in the 1960s.
In deference to the host country, an Innocenti Mini Parade will take place on the Mugello race track. Based on the British original in terms of technology and initially in its external design, too, the Italian version of the car was produced in Milan from 1965. The last of these came off the production line 20 years ago, having undergone several revisions in the meantime.
IMM weekend activities also include a parts market, presentations by Mini clubs from various countries, slalom and drift competitions and test drives in current MINI models. There will also be excursions to Pisa, Siena and Florence, either by bus or in a Mini convoy subject to limited participant numbers. The most attractive and lovingly restored automobiles from all eras of the brand’s history will be presented in an exhibition area specially reserved for the Mini Contest. But awards won’t just go to perfectly preserved classics: in the brand’s typical tongue-in-cheek style there will also be prizes for the cleanest car, the most rust, the longest distance covered to get to the IMM and the loudest hi-fi system in a Mini.
