London: MINI Factory

Ok, well it's not IN London, but it's close by! During my trip to the UK I am so excited that I'll be able to stop off in Oxford to take a tour of the MINI factory!


It's something I knew I always wanted to do, to see the place where my MINI (Max) and so many others were built. When I was planning my trip, I knew I had to book the tour in advance. So I checked out the MINI UK online booking calendar and was horrified to see that tours were unavailable the ENTIRE time I was in the UK. What?! I was so disappointed and even joked (maybe) with my friend that I would scale the factory fence if I needed to, James Bond style.

The first New MINI rolls off the assembly line in 2001.
My Max would come through just a little while later!

Thankfully that won't be necessary, as a tour spot opened up for us! Yay! Even though photography is prohibited inside, I will definitely share my experience with you here. I'm very excited as I've heard nothing but good things about this tour from other MINI peeps.

Sophisticated robots do most of the work building MINIs now.

The paint room won't be a stop on the tour, as it's under strict dust regulations!

I did a little research and learned that the Oxford plant just celebrated it's 100th anniversary in March!




Inside the Oxford Plant in building Morris Minors around 1950.

Check out this great article to read more about Oxford's car building history and to see more great images. I'm really looking forward to my tour! Have you ever been to the MINI factory? Or another car

All photos via press.bmwgroup.com from the article referenced above.