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Not knocking Paddy , his achievements or what he does for charity here but is it just me or is all the Minisport Paddy Hopkirk parts and merchandise looking a bit expensive and in some cases tacky ?
Just waiting for the Paddy Hopkirk "Keep Calm and Rally On" t- shirt to make a appearance .

Have to agree but I suspect that it is not paddy that sets the prices and the outlets capitalising on paddy's good name...

The sportsmen of Paddy's era would have a long way to go to catch up with the earnings of todays 'Celebrity branding'.........good luck to Paddy who is also BMW's "Brand Ambassador' for MINI which must help boost his pension and gets him a nice new MINI as his 'company car' every year!

Paddy Hopkirk pictured below at Minisport with his MINI Countryman and Y333 EJB reg number.


Paddy Hopkirk arrives at Beaulieu Mini Day last year in his latest MINI Countryman

Those cars are so humongous it looks like an episode of 'Honey, I Shrunk The Rally Driver"! I doubt Paddy earnt that much less than an equivalent works driver would nowadays but no you really can't knock him for wanting to earn a crust from his name with unremarkable products, he did so in the 60's and for a long time thereafter.

bpirie1000 wrote:Have to agree but I suspect that it is not paddy that sets the prices and the outlets capitalising on paddy's good name...

Your right there .

Paddy Hopkirks latest F56 Mk3 MINI Cooper S spotted at Beaulieu today

..just when you thought they couldn't get any uglier.

That Countryman looks like it's just smelled an eggy guff!

mab01uk wrote:The sportsmen of Paddy's era would have a long way to go to catch up with the earnings of todays 'Celebrity branding'.........good luck to Paddy who is also BMW's "Brand Ambassador' for MINI which must help boost his pension and gets him a nice new MINI as his 'company car' every year!

That's a great point and I agree - it's not like Minisport and/or Paddy are getting rich off of these parts. They do more to reinforce Paddy's legacy in motorsport and keep his name right up there with Sir Alec whenever people are discussing Minis. Good on him!

monkeyjim wrote:Not knocking Paddy , his achievements or what he does for charity here but is it just me or is all the Minisport Paddy Hopkirk parts and merchandise looking a bit expensive and in some cases tacky ?
Just waiting for the Paddy Hopkirk "Keep Calm and Rally On" t- shirt to make a appearance .

I have to agree....
Someone should bring some balance to the industry with 'Timo' tuning parts or Aaltonen brake pedals or a Paul Easter Cookbook or Henry Liddon road maps....

The answer is simple if you don't like the parts or the prices vote with your wallet....


mind you someone quite well connected to some of mini sports competitors has been whineing for ages because they have missed the boat,and are more than a wee bit envious of both the Hopkirk and Cooper ranges....

I don't think I have ever seen Paddy Hopkirk turn up in the same car. Here he is at The Rally Day at Castle Combe in a PacMan.



Do you reckon he just swaps the plates like they used to in the old days.

surfblue63 wrote:I don't think I have ever seen Paddy Hopkirk turn up in the same car. Here he is at The Rally Day at Castle Combe in a PacMan.
Do you reckon he just swaps the plates like they used to in the old days.

You could be right!

Here is Paddy's personal plate on yet another back in 2010. This time a MINI Clubman JCW parked in the BRDC car park at the Silverstone British Grand Prix.

My wife has a new countryman and its a great car. We never think of it as a mini but its quirky, fun to drive and seats 5 adults comfortably. what else would you expect Paddy to drive??