Mebetoys Model #A-31, Mini Cooper Rallye

The Mini Minor is a small popular British-made car that was designed by Sir Alec Issigonis and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors from 1959 to 2000. John Cooper, friend of Sir Alec Issigonis and the owner of the Cooper Car Company, which designed and built Formula 1 and rally cars, collaborated with Sir Alec Issigonis and BMC to create the Mini Cooper. The Mini Cooper S, with its larger 1275 cc engine, won the Monte Carlo Rally in 1964, 1965, and 1967.

This is one of the early models in the Mebetoys series and appeared in 1969. It first appeard in the 1969 Mebetoys catalog and continued to appear in Mebetoys catalogs until 1974.This model used the Mebetoys Mini Minor, Model #A-28, as the base model to create the Rallye. Indeed, the base of the Mini Cooper Rallye bears the A-28 model number. Four holes were drilled into the front grille to accomodate four jeweled amber "lights" and stickers were added to create the Rallye. Although a very popular model in Europe it was never issued as a Hot Wheels Gran Toros series model nor packaged under the Gran Toros or Sputafuoco name.

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