All language subtitles for Supercar.Superbuild.S02E07.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-RAWR_track4_[eng]

(upbeat music)

- MINI?

Supercar?

No, no.

- The MINI is no supercar,

but it's a lot of fun to drive

and it's fun that you can afford.

- [Narrator] The modern MINI Cooper,

a non-traditional sports car,

offering high performance, affordable fun.

(engine revving)

- MINI is such a fantastic British brand.

It's got a lot of
heritage, a lot of culture.

It's got a lot of history to it.

- [Narrator] A quarter of a century ago,

the Mark nearly fades away.

- See, there was the uncertainty.

There was some unrest.

(engine revving)

- Now this British icon

(engine revving)

is riding high thanks
to a tightly knit team.

- There's a lot of camaraderie.

We've worked together with a
lot of people for a long time.

So you feel that team spirit.

- [Narrator] A strong sense of family.

(tires squealing)

- I grew up in Oxford.

My granddad worked here in 50s and 60s.

Basically I'm following suit.

- [Narrator] And a unique
apprentice program.

- We're protecting old-school
engineering skills.

- [Narrator] The result is
a beacon of industrial hope.

- It just goes to show the
fact that we are still a forse

for manufacturing within the UK.

- [Narrator] - Confidence
that's best expressed

in the fastest MINI ever made.

The John Cooper Works edition

that we make at the plant
here is our supercar.

- [Narrator] the modern MINI Cooper,

the every man's supercar.

(engine revving)
(upbeat music)

(tires squealing)

(upbeat music)

(intense music)

It's a car born during
a global oil crisis,

one of the most influential
designs of the 20th century,

and a quirky machine that's
unapologetically British.

- The MINI was born in England

and it's great that it's
still produced here.

- It's ours, it's quirky, it's gotta look.

There's a lot of cars
out there at the moment

that you look at and you have

to see the badge before
you know what it is.

You see a MINI, you know
you're seeing a MINI.

(tires squealing)

- [Narrator] MINIs aren't built

for statistical bragging rights,

but rather smiles per liter.

- A facile, turbocharged, go-kart,

you're pretty high on the
the thrills-per-dollar scale.

- [Narrator] Few machines
offer as much performance

in a smaller footprint.

- The MINI brand has always
been about getting a lot

of performance from a tiny little package.

(engine revving)

- [Narrator] Base models
start at just 18,000 euros,

but if you want a little
more bang for your buck,

(tires squealing)

the top of the line John
Cooper Works edition clocks in

at a very reasonable 32,000.

(dramatic music)

- It's gonna surprise people, but the MINI

is democratized performance.

It's a small, quick, sharp
handling car that's a lot of fun

to drive at a reasonable price point.

- [Narrator] Ultra
affordable performance paired

with a fervently British sensibility.

- You see stereotypical British things,

you get the bulldog, you
get the the Union flag,

and you get a MINI.

It's so intrinsically
linked, which is, it's nice

because every country's got their thing.

(dramatic music)

- [Narrator] Today the brand sells cars

in over 110 countries

and every single one
starts the very same way.

- It's got a strong brand identity

and reaches to every corner of the world.

- So I often look at the
destinations of the cars

that we build on the
line and it's amazing.

One car to America, the next
car to China, then a car

that goes to France, then
Australia, New Zealand.

- You look at the bill
sheets, I mean Korea,

I mean whoa, and the sales
in China, I mean amazing.

- [Narrator] The MINI is
a worldwide phenomenon

that requires three distinct
factories to get the job done.

At the Swindon Pressing Plant,

they manufacture body
panels and sub-assemblies.

(machines whirring)

They build three and four cylinder engines

at Hams Hall in North Warwickshire.

(dramatic music)

And every day they produce a
thousand completed machines

at the Oxford Assembly Plant.

(upbeat music)

- Currently we are building
the three-door hatch,

the five-door hatch, and
the brand new MINI Clubman.

In the past, we built up to
five models on the same line.

- [Narrator] In a given
year, they manufacture more

than 200,000 machines.

- So the car has come
in from the paint shop,

comes in a set sequence.

We've already started to fit
some of the parts to the cars.

- Every 68 seconds there's
a car leaving the line.

We are working more or
less 24/5, so three shifts,

five days a week.

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] The speed necessitates

a lengthy 1.7 kilometer assembly line.

- There's 224 stations on the main line,

so that's from when it first comes in

from the paint shop to our final station.

- [Narrator] nearly
5,000 crafts people bolt

and wrench parts inside a facility

that is nearly the size of
a hundred football pitches.

We're now at harness fits, so this is one

of the really complicated
parts of our process.

- We've got a big thing
here, it's the oven

and we've got 18 harnesses in
there, 60 degrees all the time

and they're all sequenced in there.

We get the harness one
by one, we take them out

and then we fit them around
the car, clip them in

and they're all ready for the
people to fix their parts to.

- [Narrator] Each harness
weighs 20 kilograms

and has over 500 clips that
have to be snapped into place.

- My section is one of the
most physically demanding areas

because of the harness,
because of the bending,

because of the thickness of the harness,

it's quite a hard area.

- [Narrator] There's
little downtime thanks

to the high station count
and the fast cycle times.

To keep the line humming along,

workers are backed up by
another team of associates.

- These guys are the Formula One guys.

These are the ones that
put the cars together.

They're the most important
parts of our company.

I'm here as a support function,

so if they've got an issue,
any problems, they let me know

and I jump in and let them
get on with the next bit.

- We do do our best.

All the blokes, we're all
basically on the same page

most of the time and we all strive

to build the perfect car
and that's what the MINI is.

It's becoming the perfect
little car and it's a good job.

It's a proud place to work for, isn't it?

- [Narrator] The passion here
is palpable and historic.

- This facility is

the oldest mass
manufacturer of automotives.

- [Narrator] Built in
1913, the Oxford site

has produced over 11
and a half million cars,

spread over seven different brands.

- No, it's historic, it's iconic.

We're very proud to work here
and work for the name MINI.

- Very proud to know that I've been party

to the manufacturing of that product.

- To be a part of such an
iconic thing is MINI It's,

I think for me it's a great opportunity.

- There's so many companies
who change the basic formula.

MINI hasn't done that.

It's still a fun driving car

as it was back in the 50s
when it was first launched.

- [Narrator] The MINI
might be a British icon,

but its roots take hold thanks

to a French diplomat named
Ferdinand de Lesseps.

He's inspired while reading a book

about Napoleon's early attempt to connect

the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.

It takes 37 years, but in
1869 his dream becomes reality

when the Suez Canal opens.

The waterway becomes a hub
for international trade

and by the early 50s, two thirds

of Europe's oil supply travels through it.

However, in 1956, Egypt
nationalizes the canal.

The act starts a chain
reaction that eventually leads

to a worldwide oil crisis.

- The MINI story starts
with actually a fuel crisis,

an oil crisis, and a need for vehicles

to be fuel efficient and affordable.

- [Narrator] In Britain,
the government institutes

a fuel rationing program
that limits motorists

to just four gallons of petrol per month.

The restrictions inspire
the British Motor Company,

or BMC, to focus on fuel economy

and they ask car designer
Sir Alec Issigonis

to create a thrifty machine.

- BMC came to him and
Said, "We need a car."

Due to the Suez crisis in 1956.

- [Narrator] The task
has a single mandate,

fit four people comfortably in a car

that can't be longer than 10 feet.

- He started in his kitchen, I
heard, setting up four chairs

and invited friends and looked

how much space do four
people need actually?

- [Narrator] Most cars at the
time offer rear wheel drive

and use an engine that's
longitudinally mounted.

Issigonis' inspiration is to
spin the engine 90 degrees.

- His best move was to
turn the engine transverse.

That's a principle which
is set I think for small

and compact cars till today it's kind

of a really genius construction principle.

- [Narrator] Next, Issigonis decides

to make his car front-wheel drive.

Finally, he engineers
a compact transmission

that fits beneath the
engine, not behind it.

Issigonis's entire drivetrain
occupies just two feet

of the new machine and allows
the remaining 80% of the space

to be dedicated to passengers.

- As it turns out, he also
designed a car that was a lot

of fun to drive and
people started figuring

that out pretty quick.

These things handled pretty good.

They were a lot of fun.

- [Narrator] In 1959, the
British Motor Company launches

the MINI, a two-door, four-cylinder car,

featuring a monocoque shell.

Initially the machine is offered

with a 34-horsepower engine,

but gets a whopping 36
miles to the gallon,

heady fuel efficiency numbers even today.

Yet it's what happens next

that helps coin the term hot hatch.

(upbeat music)

Just two years after its introduction,

the MINI's unique design characteristics,

remarkable handling, and
fun-filled driving experience,

captivate Britain.

- Alex Issigonis was
trying to make a compact

and affordable little
run around family car,

needed as much space as possible,

but also be compact enough

to fit in little tight
spaces, park in cities.

As it turned out in the
way he designed the car,

it actually goes around
a corner really well

and people figured this
out really quickly.

- [Narrator] Among those people

is Formula One team owner John Cooper.

- John Cooper actually was a
constructor who was working

for Formula One and he was
a friend of Alex Issigonis.

He recognizes the potential of the MINI.

- [Narrator] In 1961 Cooper bores out

the standard car's engine,

fits twin carburetors, disc brakes,

and a racing-derived close ratio gearbox.

The result is the MINI Cooper,
a race car for the every man.

(horns honking)

- If you give man something motorized,

they will find a way to race it.

That's kind of how it works
and that's true for bar stools

and that's true for motorcycles
and it's true for the MINI.

- [Narrator] By the late seventies,

the brand sells over
four million machines.

- John Cooper was a racing
driver who raced MINIs

and to also hot rodded 'em up.

The company owes a bit of their popularity

to his racing success.

- [Narrator] Today
hot-rodded, compact three

and five-door machines
are called hot hatches.

A term that John Cooper helped originate

and one benefiting the current
top of the line Mini JCW.

(engine revving)

- JCS stands for John Cooper Works

and that's an homage to John Cooper

who raced the first MINIs.

- This is a brand that you
know for it's humble origins

for being a cute car,

actually has a lot of
performance behind it.

- Supercar, super performance,

but it's affordable to everybody.

Leaving the plant I see so many
of these cars where people,

you can see a big smile on
their face just driving them.

- [Narrator] The JCW is
fun to whip around a track,

but it begins just like
every other machine,

at the Swindon Pressing Plant.

- We're in the blanking area

of the press shop at Swindon.

This is sort of the initial
step of the process.

We take coiled steel, which
you can see here behind me,

and we sort of unwind that
into our blanking tools

and we cut from that sheet steel.

It is quite big.

This coil, for example,
is about 20 tons worth.

On average we get delivered
about 15 tons in each coil.

- [Narrator] The plant starts in 1954

and five years later becomes

the largest employer in the area.

- It's a real growing process.

You know, you join here
as sort of a young guy,

a little bit apprehensive
of the world around you.

As you can see, it's a big factory.

It makes you quite nervous,
but you grow into it.

- [Narrator] At Swindon,
they produce nearly 90%

of the MINI's pressings and the majority

of the sub-assemblies, such as the doors,

bonnets, and tailgates.

- We're now at the sort of tail
end of the blanking process.

What we saw earlier was
the coiled steel coming in.

It's now been through this
blanking line, chopped,

if you like, into sheet steel.

What you can see here behind you is blanks

for the MINI sunroof.

(metal clanking)

- [Narrator] The sunroof
blanks are extremely thin.

The height of each one is
equal to just seven sheets

of paper stacked on top of each other.

- So with a press like this
in the first operation,

which is the forming press,
where all the shaping's done.

- [Narrator] Presses
vary in age and power.

The largest uses 5,000 tons of force.

That's half the weight of the Eiffel Tower

and it presses down on a sheet
of metal in mere seconds.

(light music)

- This is the final stage
in the presses process.

We've cut the sheet steel,
we've formed it into a panel,

and now we just check the outer
surface for cosmetic defects

to make sure it's just
perfect for the customer.

- [Narrator] After a part is pressed,

it heads next door to the welding hall.

- The parts are brought here

and we assemble them into
what we call sub-assemblies.

- [Narrator] Over 200 welding
robots create body parts

a jolt at a time.

- Robots offer pinpoint accuracy,

ability in the process and speed.

- [Narrator] The robots better move fast,

the welding shop's cycle time
is tied directly to the speed

of the Oxford final assembly plant.

- Each individual cell
is a 60 second, roughly,

cycle time is what we aim for.

We have to match the cycle time in Oxford.

In that respect, I think the volume

of panels produced here
is quite mind blowing.

We produce 11,000 say assemblies a day

which is pretty staggering.

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] The majority
of the finished parts

are sent nearly 35
miles to final assembly.

- This is huge for us.

The employment that it brings,
the kudos that it brings.

I mean we see visitors every day

of the week from all over
the world that wanna come in

and see how their car's built

and that's totally understandable.

I'd wanna see it.

- [Narrator] The facility opens in 1913

and just two decades later
accounts for nearly 30%

of England's total exports.

But in the back half of the 20th century,

the success fades fast.

- The British automotive industry
collapses multiple times.

- [Narrator] By the 1980s,
the plant has already gone

through six different owners,

years of minimal investment
doom it to an uncertain future.

- The feeling was one
of great trepidation.

We didn't know what the
future would bring, so we knew

that the future was very,
very difficult for the plant.

- [Narrator] In 1994,
BMW buys The Rover Group,

which at the time owns MINI
for nearly 1.2 billion euros.

- By the time BMW bought
MINI, it wasn't really

a car company the way we think

of most mainstream car companies.

They weren't coming out with
new products or anything.

- [Narrator] Six years later,
BMW Relaunches the MINI brand.

The goal isn't to help a nation,
but rather the bottom line.

- In the late 90s, BMW
had a lot of aspirations

to grow, but if they
want to expand they need

to have some less expensive cars,

some more affordable,
every man kind of cars.

They don't want to hurt their name

by putting it on something really cheap.

- [Narrator] At the time, some
critics pan the reborn MINI

for being both sacrilegious
and a less expensive Beamer.

- You could see the MINI
Cooper as my first Beamer.

The modern MINI bears little resemblance

to the original MINI.

It's much bigger, it's much heavier.

It doesn't drive like the
original MINIs at all.

- [Narrator] Other commentators contend

the reborn machine opens
up a premium product

to a broader market.

- You got people saying,
"Well, I can't afford A BMW,

but hey, here's this MINI,
it's stylish, it's different,

it's fun, and it's built by the same guys

that built a BMW 3 series."

There's a lot of that
BMW value in this car,

so you're kind of
getting the best of both.

You're getting this iconic British style

and you're getting that
German cache that you want.

- [Narrator] The success
story starts thanks

to a very small car, but it
actually means quite a bit more.

- It's the biggest employer
outside of the public sector.

You take a walk through Oxford

and you'll see features harking
back to manufacturing here

for the last 100 years.

It means an awful lot.

- [Narrator] Revitalizing
the Oxford plant helps both

the local community and
members of the MINI family.

- It's quite a big family business here.

You'll find a lot of
generations work here,

so it's passed on from
generation to generation.

- There's a lot of people that
have had a lot of history.

My father, for example, worked here.

My grandfather also worked here,

but there's people that go
back three, four generations.

- I'm the last member of
my family to come here.

My sister works here,
my father's worked here,

my grandparents worked here.

Back in the very old days,

my grand worked here building parks for,

I think it was field tanks for airplanes.

My mum worked here in payroll.

I'm the last one here.

- [Narrator] Having
fun starts on the line,

but ends up imbued the car itself.

- It's just such a fun little car.

The feeling is amazing.

It's just great and they're
great to drive as well.

I have one.

- It's the people that make the plant.

You could call it love.

- It's just such a well known

and well liked brand, isn't it?

The renewed version in
2000-ish resparks that love

for everyone I think
'cause it's just quirky

and it's not like a sort
of bog standard car.

It sort of, it draws the eye, doesn't it?

- [Narrator] The catchy and
quirky MINI turns heads thanks

to one of the most
sophisticated body shops

in the automotive world

where every day they
assemble 1,000 new shells,

blazingly fast thanks to
1,000 robots, 6,000 welds

and the hard work of the next generation

of MINI craftspeople.

(intense music)

Every day at the Oxford
Final Assembly plant,

brand new MINIs roll off the
line nearly every minute.

- They still build them in England

and they put Union Jacks on the roof

and play up the the Britishness of them.

- [Narrator] The process begins

in a highly automated body shop.

- We're in body and white.

The body is what you see
being built over here,

it's the bare bones of the car.

We fit the closures to it,
trim pieces, the windows,

the door cars, et cetera,
all get fitted later on.

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] BMW spends
over 750 million pounds

upgrading the site.

- The total buildup time
is around a day from start

of the process to end of the process

where the car gets delivered
into the paint shop.

- [Narrator] 650 workers
split over three shifts,

oversee all the robots.

- It's nonstop, it kicks off
at six o'clock in the morning.

We work round the clock
until Friday night.

There's constantly something
different happening.

Always, always, you know,

the robots are moving in the background.

You have to keep your wits about you.

- [Narrator] Over 435 different steel

and synthetic parts are connected.

90% of the tasks are automated.

- The body sides get built
up in three modular steps.

So we go from a framing
one body, which is,

you wouldn't really recognize
it as a body shell framing two

where a lot more of the
structural rigidity comes in.

Framing three starts to
resemble something more of a car

and then the hang on parts are all fitted

and that's where you'll
really recognize it as a body.

- On average, a finished body

in white weighs nearly 400 kilos.

Once the welding robots have their fun,

a special perceptron camera
double checks the work.

The system is accurate up
to 1/10th of a millimeter,

which is just about the
width of a human hair.

When a body is finished,
it's time to add a splash

of British color.

Inside the paint shop
where it will take nine

and a half more hours

to give a new machine
its vibrant exterior.

- We're at the point now
where we've got the cars

come over from the body in white.

- [Narrator] The first step
is to rinse the body shells

in a chemical bath.

- Our first process is our pre-treatment.

It goes through different
baths with different chemicals,

making sure the car is perfectly clean

and ready to take the paint.

- [Narrator] After taking a quick dip,

the body is baked at 180 degrees Celsius,

which gives the shell
a greenish primer tint.

- It goes into a complete dip tank.

We get the first layer of paint in it,

we call eco, just paint being
applied through electrostatic.

- [Narrator] A collection of
robots applies over 77 meters

of seam sealer to each machine.

- The car will then go
through a small area

of preparation prior to
going into the color booths

where all the robots will
spray firstly inside the car.

Then outside the car.

- [Narrator] The color booth features

two different sets of robots.

The first are electrostatic machines

that apply the base coat and flat colors.

However, if you order a metallic finish,

then pneumatic robots join the action.

In total, it takes roughly four liters

of paint to cover a MINI.

- The huge amount of customization
you can do to a MINI.

These cars have character, you
can get interesting decals,

get interesting stripe
packages, interesting logos,

and it's all there

to make the car feel a
little bit more unique

than your typical 20 to
$40,000 economy vehicle.

- [Narrator] The fully automated facility

is entirely modern, but
it wasn't always this way.

- I've been here a long time now.

I'm in my 38th year of working here.

I'm on my third paint shop.

When I first started we
sprayed all them by hand

and in those days all the
paint had lead in them

and we didn't have air-fed masks.

We had just a little paper masks

and that would be our day's
work and it'd be hard.

- [Narrator] Tom Bennett
runs the MINI paint shop

and his history with the
Mark goes back a long way.

- This a sex story isn't just with me.

My father worked in the
press shops here for 40 years

and I currently got both
my sons worked here,

one for 10 years and one for 15 years.

When it comes time to me to
retire, I've still got my family

and the MINI is a big part of my family

and always has been for many generations.

- [Narrator] Family
connections mean a great deal

at the Oxford Plant.

- My brother actually worked here

before me, so it was for a referral.

A lot of my friends were
moving and working here,

so I thought, "Why not
take the opportunity?"

- [Narrator] Knowing
someone on the inside helps

get your foot in the door,

but it's hard work that moves you up.

- But I've been within
assembly since 2003.

I've slowly worked my way up.

I actually started off on the shop floor

as an associate, then
process same as these guys.

Became a team leader and
now a process leader.

- [Narrator] The healthy amount

of upward mobility creates
frequent job openings,

some of which are filled

by former apprentices
taught at the Oxford plant.

(dramatic music)

(machine whirring)

In 2012, the brand
creates the MINI Academy.

- Particularly in the UK,

you're in a situation whereby
vocational skills, plumbers,

electricians, carpenters,
those sort of people

went into decline and unfortunately now

we're paying a price for that.

- [Narrator] Each year,
32 lucky youngsters

are given the chance

to learn the ins and
outs of Porto production.

(dramatic music)
(metal clanking)

- [Worker] You're gonna
be done for the day.

- It's about growing
that person from scratch.

We wanna influence behaviors,
we want to teach life skills.

We want these people to
be people that at the end

of their apprenticeship want
to have a 40-year career

with our business.

- [Narrator] Jason Gaskell, is the head

of the apprentice training program.

He runs a highly intensive three

or four year course

that offers future
employees old-world skills

while also protecting the brand's future.

- What we don't want is a
situation whereby we get

to a stage where nobody
has that old ability

or that old hands-on ability
to be able to put their hand

to something to fix it,
to keep things going.

- [Narrator] While the goal is

to cultivate artisanal skills,

the approach is utterly modern.

- The apprenticeships
historically were viewed as being

for people who couldn't
necessarily hack it

in an academic forum.

That is not the case today.

The people that you see around
you today in this workshop

are highly academic.

- New apprentices don't start
with tools, but rather mice.

The academic program begins
in a high-tech classroom.

- But currently at the
moment we're standing in

what we call the IT suite.

As part of their apprenticeship,

they need to learn how to
design and draw things on CAD.

- [Narrator] CAD, or
computer aided design,

lets the apprentices learn their
trade in the virtual world.

After the digital tech, it's
time for old-school tools.

- And we're now in what we call

our technical training facility.

Or if I go back to old
school, in our workshop.

- I think it's kind of a good mix of sort

of hands-on learning and
theory learning as well

and you get to work
around with the cool cars.

That's nice.

- [Narrator] Even though the
factory is extremely automated,

the new apprentices start
with basic hand work.

- You can see the people working
on the benches are really

doing some basic, down-to-earth skills,

filing, drilling, cutting,
things that you would expect

any base foundation person wanting

to get into engineering to be able to do.

- [Narrator] Once the
students master hand tools,

it's time to move up to the
motorized lathes and mills.

(light music)

(machine whirring)

- Now, in your modern
engineering terms, you'd feed

that into a computer grower band

and the machine will do the
turning and cutting for you.

We're still old school here.

We want them to physically
be able to put a piece

of metal into a machine
and make something with it.

- [Narrator] After all
the tools, it's time

for something a bit more shocking.

- What you see in front of you now is

our electrical training area.

So they do a little bit on

what we would term domestic electrical.

So how do I wire a plug?

How do I wire a light?

Because there may be that situation

that they need to do that.

- Learning the machining
and with the hand fitting

and everything like that,
the electrical side of it.

It's something I've never
known before, you know,

and I've learned all
these different skills

that I didn't even think I
could do and it's possible.

- More importantly, they then
go on to PLCs and programming.

So the equipment

that controls our factories,
they get to do that.

- [Narrator] Learning how
to program the equipment

inside the plant is critically important.

- Although technology is
taking massive leaps forward,

there is still big bits of equipment

that sit out in our factories
that need to be fixed.

Nothing runs forever.

Our utopian world would love us

to have a situation like
that, but it doesn't exist.

So what these young people are learning is

should something go wrong at
two o'clock in the morning,

they have the ability to
get that fixed quickly.

- [Narrator] Rapid solutions
and intelligent problem solving

are critical skills
inside the Oxford Plant

where brand new MINIs roll
off the line every 67 seconds

and each shift, 700
workers put their hearts

and souls into every machine.

- It's getting your hands dirty,

it's finding out how things work.

If you like that sort of
thing, you like working here.

(upbeat music)

- We are proud of the product, so we want

to make sure it's good for the customers

and everybody enjoys it.

(tires squealing)

- [Narrator] 2,300 people
work on eight distinct lines

under this roof.

- 1,000 cars a day, so that's
something we're very proud

of is 1,000 cars every single day.

- [Narrator] On the track,
modern MINIs move forward

a nice clip, but if you
look down at the dashboard,

it's a throwback to another time.

- They keep it small, there's no deviation

from their philosophy.

I think the thing that I
like the most about MINI is

that it's unrepentant MINI.

They do it their own way and that's it.

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] Installing
the iconic dashboard

takes place at station 20.

- We are now installing the
cockpit into the vehicle,

so it's very, very precise.

It only just fits into
the aperture of the door.

It's then fitted onto its
locating points on the dashboard

and then it's secured to the vehicle.

(drill whirring)

- [Narrator] Simple bolts
secure the dashboard,

but back in the MINI Academy, the goal is

to secure the future of the brand.

- It takes us four years
to qualify an apprentice.

We can prototype, launch, and
build a car in two and a half.

(upbeat music)

So that gives you a kind
of a timescale idea of

what apprenticeships are all about.

They're a massive, massive investment

for the long-term strategy of a business.

- [Narrator] The long-term plan starts

in a very internet-savvy way.

- I applied through going
online on the Facebook page.

- [Narrator] Some
apprentices arrive online,

others show up in need of change.

- I did do a degree in politics actually,

and then I sort of realized
I didn't wanna do that,

so had a bit of a career
change and here I am.

When you say it to someone, you know,

it always sparks conversation.

So yeah, it's not some unknown company,

they're like, "What do they do?"

It's quite easy to kind
of talk about the cars

and where things are going,
so that's always interesting.

(tires squealing)

- [Narrator] It's easy to see

where the Oxford MINI plant is headed.

Today the facility is
responsible for more than 10%

of all the automotive
production in the UK,

including the hottest
MINI of them all, the JCW.

(tires squealing)

(intense music)
(metal clanking)

The John Cooper Works edition
is the fastest machine

that MINI has ever made.

(engine revving)

It's 228-horsepower,
two-liter, twin-turbo motor

(engine revving)

is built inside the Hams Hall facility

where over 7,000 three
and four-cylinder motors

come to life every single day.

(light music)

- We're in Plants Hams Hall,
this is an engine plant

where we machine and assemble engines.

(light music)

Behind us is the start of
the cylinder block line.

So this is where we
machine the cylinder blocks

that go into MINI.

So these are raw parts, they come to us,

they cast externally and they come

here for us to machine them.

- [Narrator] The stations
move in under 30 seconds

and it takes about eight
hours from start to finish

to build a new motor.

- This is the start of the process

where we launch the cylinder
head onto the assembly line

and it then takes a number of
stations, it gets assembled,

we have machine heads.

That machine next door
is in our machining hall.

They come in a pallet, get delivered,

and then they get loaded
onto the assembly line

by the rover.

(light music)

- [Narrator] The machine cylinder heads

are assembled and tested.

(light music)

- What Roger's doing is he's
visually inspecting the parts

just to make sure that there's
no defects in the components.

The problem with machining is machining

will uncover defects in the casting.

- [Narrator] In another
part of the factory

they work on the crankshafts.

- We're in the crankshaft machining line

and we're very close towards
the end of the process

and this is a super finishing process.

There's three steps through
this finishing process.

So there's a rough tape,
the finishing tape process

and then there's another
tape that picks up the parts

of the crank shaft that
don't get picked up

on this particular one here.

So three steps, it's a very fine paper.

Yeah, as you can see, 1500
grit, it's very, very fine.

It's developed on a continuous
roll so it continuously rolls

around so you've always got fresh tape.

- [Narrator] On another
line, pistons are built up.

- This is a sub-assembled
piston and con-rod.

So they're basically
traveling now on their journey

to the piston fit station

where they'll marry up with a block.

- [Narrator] It's time
to build a new motor.

The crankshaft is installed.

New engines then receive their
unique identification number.

(light music)

Pistons are connected.

(light music)

- Some of the parts are very intricate

and so it can be very
demanding for automation

to do that sort of work.

(light music)

- [Narrator] They fit the turbochargers,

the inlet manifold, and engine harness.

- So at this point it
becomes a unique engine

going into a unique MINI.

(light music)

- [Narrator] A motor is now
ready to be sent down the road

to the Oxford Final Assembly Plant

where it will be delivered directly

to the powertrain subassembly line.

= So our engines come from Hams Hall

as a completely built up engine,

but what we now do is build them

into the front suspension unit.

So we marry now the engine to the subframe

and the front suspension and
this is what you see behind us.

- [Narrator] 55 craftspeople work

across 25 engine sub-assembly stations.

Every single process is exactly timed

against the 64 seconds.

So meticulous planning
of every single element

of every single process is
planned down to the last second.

- [Narrator] Once they finish
sub-assembling a motor,

it's transferred across the aisle

where a new MINI eagerly
awaits its power plant.

- Where we're standing now
is what we call marriage.

That is a place where the
engine is married with a car

and we've got a split
marriage, front axle,

and engine and the other.

- So it's a very precise element

of the production with the engine.

It's very, very tight to go into the cars.

We're talking millimeter gaps

between the engine and the body.

- [Narrator] To achieve
the required precision,

the team relies on a special
automated system which raises

the power plant 15
centimeters beneath the car.

Then four robots bolt
the drivetrain, subframe,

and suspension to the car.

- Eight bolts that hold
the engine into the car

from underneath and then
there's further ones

that are from the engine bay downwards.

(light music)

- The car becomes a real car.

Now it's married, now it's
proud to call itself a car.

(light music)

- [Narrator] Workers bolt the
exhaust onto the new engine.

- The big pieces that
we are installing here

is the rear exhaust, the heat
shield, further down the line

the modular front end and also seats.

They are fitting the exhaust,

so this is onto the hanger bracket.

This guy is securing the front

and this guy's putting
on the nice chrome finish

so it looks quite pretty at the end.

We are gonna put nice, shiny,
pretty things on the cars.

(intense music)

- [Narrator] The battery is connected.

- This is at the part
where we fit the front end

of the vehicle, the front
bumper, the front radiator,

basically the front frame of the vehicle.

Behind me the parts come in in sequence.

They're brought in in
exactly the build sequence

that we have going through
our production line.

So they take them off the rack

that they come in on on an assistor

and then they've mate it up
to the front of the vehicle.

So it's the front end marriage.

(light music)

- [Narrator] Further down
the line, workers fit

the sport-orientated wheels.

- We fit the wheels and secure 'em.

Then further up we have underbody

which is mainly under paneling.

(light music)

- Wheels, which help give the
MINI its responsive steering.

- People love 'em for
racetracks and back roads.

It's a fun, super responsive little car

that you can just whip it around anything.

- I've been here 14 years now.

It's great.

It's a good company, good to
work for, good environment,

A lot of good guys here, so
it's a really good company.

- [Narrator] The wheel fit station is fast

and efficient, yet it hides

a tremendous amount of complexity.

There are over 42 different wheel

and tire combinations available.

Once the safety systems
check out, it's time

to program the MINI's key.

- I love what I'm doing,
the key programming.

I really enjoy the job.

I have to be very careful watching

what I'm doing, checking the
numbers for the right car.

- [Narrator] Finally, after
1.7 kilometers of assembly,

a new MINI is ready for the real world.

- So we're on the finishing line.

So this is basically the end
of where everything's finished.

This will then drive off around next door

into validation, ready
to go to the customer.

- [Narrator] It's taken
five and a half hours

to build a new MINI.

The quality control process
is extremely thorough,

but for some machines
it's even more intense.

(intense music)

Once a day, they pull a
selected machine off the line

for extended testing.

(light music)

(engine revving)

- Not all of our customers are
living in the ideal climate.

We have variations between whether

or not you are looking in Pacific areas

or Asia areas where you are talking

about quite high humidity
in certain areas,

which is high sunshine.

So this is our climate chamber.

We can go down to minus 30
degrees Celsius and up to plus 60

and we can do 98% humidity

so we can really make it a
very warm and humid atmosphere.

It's very, very unpleasant.

- [Narrator] After a machine heats up

and thaws out, it takes an extended bath

in a water test booth.

- This is the water
test booth, another area

where we torture our
cars and really make sure

that they're tested to
the absolute limits.

- [Narrator] They run the
water test for a day and a half

and have the ability to
turn the machine side

to side and on an angle.

- Some people may have on
their homes, they may have

to park like that basically

for the whole lifetime of the vehicle.

- [Narrator] After washing off,

each machine hits a few bumps.

(machine vibrating)

- We are in the shaker rig area.

This is the four post shaker rig.

We are just putting it through its paces

to understand if there's
any squeaks in the axles

on the car.

I think the challenging part
is actually about trying

to understand what the
root cause of something is.

You can always hear a noise.

Any customer hears a noise
in a car, they're trying

to find out exactly what's
causing it, is the main issue.

It's always the most
difficult thing to do.

(light music)

- [Narrator] Diagnosing
unwanted sounds is difficult,

but in Oxford, the really
hard times passed long ago.

- I've been with MINI in
Oxford Power for 15 years

and when I first started,
probably about 50

or 40 cars a day.

Now we're making lots more cars.

- [Narrator] The Oxford Plant builds

nearly 200,000 machines a year.

It's a remarkable turnaround for a brand

that was once on the ropes.

(engine revving)

- What MINIs do is they focus on sort

of the lighter side of driving.

The more fun stuff, the
more not so serious stuff.

Their designs aren't cute, they're playful

and that's the way these cars drive.

- [Narrator] The current
top of the line machine

is the JCW edition, the fastest, coolest,

and costliest hot hatch
the brand has ever built.

- The John Cooper Works edition

that we make at the plant
here is our supercar.

(engine revving)

It doesn't come with a
massive price tag with it,

but it's a really exciting, sporty car.

(engine revving)

- When you see the JCW badge
on the back of the MINI,

you know, "Hey, this is
the one that's sporty,

this is the one that's fun to drive.

This is the one that harkens
back to those old cars".

JCW's are fun to drive.

You get more power, you get
more tire, you get suspension

that's tuned to be more aggressive.

You get a little bit more excitement outta

the stuff that I'm interested in.

The passion of driving.

(intense music)

- [Narrator] The JCW'S
228-horsepower engine thrusts

the machine zero to 100
KPH in six seconds flat

and offers a top speed of
246 kilometers per hour.

All for about 32,000 euros.

- You think about the the
British car industry, everything

that's left is kind of luxury cars

and sports cars, expensive
stuff, but the MINI endured.

It was the odd one out, right?

It was the different one.

Kind of retained its pop culture status.

The great thing about MINI all the MINIs,

and before you even
get to the JCW package,

is they're all like little go-karts.

They've got that really
small, glued to the ground,

super quick response, just super zippy.

It just goes right wherever you point it.

(engine revving)

The MINI Cooper is
democratized performance.

There's no corner too tight for it,

and then you take a car
that's that good to begin with

and then you add all
the JCW goodies, power,

bigger brakes, better tires,

and stiff suspension, all these things,

and you can really carve a
corner with those things.

(tires squealing)

- [Narrator] The MINI starts
thanks to a fuel shortage,

but quickly becomes an
inexpensive form of sport

where smiles per corner matter the most.

- When the new MINI Cooper
was reborn the last decade,

it really did sneak up
along a lot of people.

We said, "Here's this thing, oh it's cute,

but a Cooper S drove
like a little go-kart"

and you got the wheels pushed

all the way out to the corners.

They've got a great stance to
'em, low center of gravity.

They're really nimble, really excellent

little performance machines.

- [Narrator] MINIs surprised people thanks

to their affordable performance,

but they wow them due to
their British sensibility.

- As much as MINI is a sporty little car,

it trades a lot on its uniqueness.

(intense music)

Unique looks, and it's
unique interior layout

and the fact that it's just,
it's not like anything else

you buy in that sort of price class.

It's not another three
box, four-door sedan

that everyone else has.

- There's two ways you
could look at this car.

You could look at it as an
inexpensive way to get in a BMW

because there's a lot of BMW
attributes to this vehicle,

even though they're
kind of cleverly hidden.

You could also look at
it as a lifestyle choice,

as a lifestyle vehicle.

Something that's exciting
and interesting to drive,

something that's different
than another vehicle

that you might buy for $30,000.

- The great thing about MINI
is that they kept the formula.

The cars have gotten a lot bigger,

they look a bit different.

They've got a lot more
features and technologies

and things these days, but
they've always made them fun,

little go-cart to drive

and the JCWs are the best ones of those.

- [Narrator] The modern MINI,
a machine that only exists due

to an oil crisis comes of age
thanks to a Formula One racer

and today offers a uniquely
affordable blend of British fun

and high tech performance.

(light music)