Cruisin'
By GREG ZYLA

Q: Greg, I own a 2005 Mini Cooper, and love it. It is the most fun car I've ever owned. How did the Mini begin, and which car company built it, as I'm told BMW was not the original owner of the Cooper in the '60s. - Larry C., New Jersey

A: Larry, the first Mini Coopers were designed by the British Motor Corporation, which would one day become British Leyland, parent of Jaguar, and later purchased by Ford Motor Company. BMC was the largest British car company of its day, and in 1952 some 40 percent of British output came from BMC, including winners like Austin, Morris, MG and my personal favorite, the Austin-Healey 3000.

Coopers are indeed clever cars, and always did well on the SCCA road-course race tracks, where its excellent weight to power ratio allowed Minis to beat some bigger, more powerful competition on the tighter, smaller road courses.

Leyland dropped the mini in 1971, and the car was then built by a list of successors, the last being Rover. In 1994, BMW took control of the Rover Group, which included the Mini, and in 2001, BMW reintroduced the Mini Cooper to a thrilled and waiting U.S. market.

Today, Mini Cooper lives under BMW's watchful eye, which is all for the better. Thanks for your letter.

Write to Greg Zyla in care of King Features Weekly Service, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL32853-6475, or send an e-mail to gzyla@ptd.net.

(c) 2007 King Features Synd., Inc.