NeoCars / TOP 5 NEO CARS / Mini Cooper

The original Mini was designed in response to the petrol rationing reintroduced in England in the 1950s as a result of the Suez Crisis.

It was characterized by creative solutions to engineering problems, and for decades was beloved by owners around the world.

But the British car industry was struggling by the 1980s, and in the 1990s BMW acquired the Mini brand when it bought the Rover Group (the tail-end of what had started as the British Motor Corporation back in the 1930s).

BMW decided to reinvent the car, renaming it in upper-case to signal the new take. In keeping with modern driver expectations and safety standards, the BMW MINI is slightly bigger and a lot heavier than its forebears (and has completely new engineering design).

It has been a hit with critics and car-owners who are taken with its paradoxical nature: it looks tiny, yet feels spacious; it reminds you of a Tonka toy, but drives like a tornado. Sexy and fun are two of the most common words used to describe it.

Forbes Auto website included the MINI among its six "Most Satisfying Cars" list last year, based on the crossover between owners who said they would buy the car again and driver response to specific elements of the car's feel and performance ... more