History
A Brief History Of The Rover Mini Cooper Sport 500
On October 4th 2000, after 41 memorable years and 5,387,862 produced, production of the most famous car ever, namely, the Mini, came to an end. Rover decided to end it with great celebrations and also build a Special Edition, which would mark the Final Classic Mini.
Rover decided to produce a whole new range for the last Minis. They released the ‘Mini Classic’ range, which included the Classic Mini Seven, Classic Mini Cooper, and Classic Mini Cooper Sport. There was also another model released for Europe, which was the Classic Mini Knightsbridge.
The Classic Sevens were a throwback to the Classic Mini of the Sixties, with its stylish retro trim and colour schemes, and rode on classic 12” Alloy Pepper Pot wheels. The Cooper was a smart, practical more traditional Classic Mini, and came with half leather trim, 12’’ Minilite wheels and handled more like the original Mini Coopers. Then the daddy was The Classic Mini Cooper Sport, a modern car in a classic Mini. This edition was full of luxury and came with full leather trim, alloy dash panel, huge masculine Sport Pack arches and 13’’ alloys.
The rare and much sought after, Classic Cooper Sport 500 were made at the end of the line, and are a separate batch of 500 that see in the end of the Mini’s production. There is much confusion of these Minis with the Classic Cooper Sports, (Non 500s), which have the same body spec, trim spec, and were also available in the same colours. The 500s however, were only ever made in the sports pack version with Platinum Silver roofs. There are many other tell tale signs if you own a 500 or looking for one.
All genuine 500s came with a rear high-level brake light in the rear window. However, this doesn’t mean that all cars with these are 500s. The lights were fitted to all Minis towards the end of production as the law changed, but there are non-500s and others without them and are a quick external check for owners or buyers of true 500s. The other identifiable item fitted only to 500s is a dash plaque that is mounted within the glove box compartment. This plaque states ’’THIS MINI IS ONE OF THE LAST 500 BUILT TO THE ORIGINAL SIR ALEC ISSIGONIS DESIGN’’. These plaques should only be fitted to the Cooper Sport 500s. However, there are fakes still being listed on eBay, mainly by a well-known seller of copy plaques. . Failing that, fall back on the chassis number. If you contact the club, we can tell you for definite via the VIN, if the car is a genuine 500 and if it is, where in the production it was made.
The 500s came in 4 colours: Solar Red, Tahiti Blue, British Racing Green and Anthracite. There is much debate about these final Limited Editions. Many say, it’s not unlike Rover to build more than 500. That has been denied by Rover, and we have been given a list of the 500’s chassis numbers to help confirm them and to prove that there are only 500.
Then there is debate that 500/500 is not the last, it’s the last number in the chassis list. Some people say that it wasn’t the last to roll off the line, there may have been others but this is the final chassis number and was taken early off the line to be hand finished knowing it was set to be a Museum piece.
The Classic Cooper Sport 500s are the Final Chapter in the Mini’s 41 year production history, and we believe that these are the ones we should begin to track and record. A register has been set up for them as we wouldn’t like to see these fall into the same fate as the Sixties Cooper ‘S’, which there are more of today than ever built and many replicas.
The 500 is Rover’s last Mini built and reflects well on the Mini’s life. It has the Classic shape, style and character of the 60’s Mini with the luxury of the ‘modern’ 2000 car with its full leather trim in the best hides, the larger wheels which give a nice modern look, the Platinum Silver roof and stripes add a modern touch of class, and the alloy dash which is a wonderful tribute to John Cooper’s part in the Mini’s history.
The Cooper Sport 500s also received special gifts with the purchase of the car. The owners received a Cooper Sport 500 shoulder bag full of many Mini branded accessories including: a Mini Cap, a T-shirt, and a fleece. Other accessories were added at the discretion of the dealer and will vary from bag to bag. The only other important item is a certificate that states the car is a genuine Cooper Sport 500 and on this, it states the chassis number and is signed by John Cooper and Kevin Howe.
Production breakdown by colour is:
Anthracite = 108
Solar Red = 110
Tahiti Blue = 128
British Racing Green = 154
As of 31/03/2024, we have 413 cars in the register, which equates to 82.6% of cars produced, found.
The breakdown by colour is:
Anthracite 89 out of 108 made 82.40%
Solar Red 89 out of 110 made 80.90%
Tahiti Blue 95 out of 128 made 74.20%
British Racing Green 123 out of 154 made 79.90%
Unknown colour 16
Year / UK Registration plate breakdown
2000 'X' Reg 53
2001 'X' Reg 41
2001 'Y' or '01' (Ireland) 264
2001 '51' Reg 41
2002 '51' Reg 3
2002 '52' Reg 2
2003 but on a 'Y' plate 1
2004 '04' Reg 1
2005 but on a 'X' plate 1
Unknown year 1
Unregistered (as new) 5