IN PICTURES: Hundreds gather in Surbiton for Mini Day 2025
On Saturday (17 May), hundreds of people, including families, gathered on Hollyfield Road in Surbiton to enjoy the activities of The Community Brain's (TCB) second Mini Day.
Mini day celebrates the "ingenuity of John Cooper, the triumph of the Mini Cooper at the Monte Carlo Rally of '65, and wider stories of innovation and cutting-edge design in Surbiton".
Mini Day was created last year to commemorate the 60-year anniversary of the Mini's first victory at the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally, with this year's iteration celebrating its subsequent 1965 win the following year.
The car can trace much of its heritage to the suburbs of Surbiton, with the race-winning S model being designed by John Cooper in the present-day Charles Ivey Porsche garage on Hollyfield Road.
This year's event also marked 60 Years of Fashion in Kingston as part of the six-month Kingston 2025 event, so attendees were asked to come dressed in their best 60s fashion.
60 Years of Fashion in Kingston marks 60 years since Kingston's School of Art delivered an astonishing international coup for Great Britain.
Kicking off the celebrations at 11am was a welcome speech given by TCB's Director, Robin Hutchinson OBE, who welcomed the guests and thanked all those who helped make the day happen.
This was followed by a speech from Chris Dawson, who helped lead the tours of John Cooper's garage (which ran at various times throughout the day), before revealing Lee Greaves' 1965 Monte Carlo winning car, which Greaves brought to Surbiton all the way from Yorkshire especially for the event.
The car won the Monte Carlo Rally in 1964, 65, 66, and 67.
Running along both sides of Hollyfield Road, over 150 Mini Coopers from across the country were stationed, allowing attendees to take photos and even sit inside.
At the entrance to Hollyfield Road from Ewell Road, there was also a vintage Routemaster bus stationed, which saw many children and their families climbing on to take a closer look.
There was also music playing throughout the day, ice cream from Surrey Ices, macaroons from Em for Macaron, Indian street food from Manny's Kitchen, burgers and hot dogs from the Royal British Legion's (RBL) Surbiton branch, street food from Accrainairo Grills, and pizzas from the Dough Shack as well as live music and clothing and jewellery stools.
The tours of John Cooper's garage, now the Charles Ivey Porsche garage, invited guests to take a look at the showroom showcasing Porches and vintage Mini Cooper racing cars.
During the tour, Dawson and his colleague gave guests an in-depth history of how Charles and Elsey Cooper's son John created the first Mini Cooper at the garage, and many car enthusiasts listened in carefully.
At 1pm, the MP for Kingston and Surbiton, Ed Davey, kicked off the Mini Monte Rally, which saw 60 of the stationed Minis driving through Tolworth, New Malden, and Kingston Town Centre before returning to Hollyfield Road at 2.30pm.
Speaking about the event, Ed Davey MP told Kingston Nub News: "It's an absolutely fantastic day.
"The weather has come out but so have huge numbers of local people to celebrate the Mini, the great British car, and also celebrate the relationship between Surbiton and the borough to the Mini because many people may not know that back in the day, they designed the Mini Cooper here in Surbiton.
The Mini Cooper then went on to win four Monte Carlo Rallies and then got into Formula One.
"And many Formula One cars were designed here and over in Chessington. And it's this creativity of the suburbs, especially here, which we want to celebrate today.
"We're also celebrating the 60th anniversary of Kingston Art school, now part of Kingston University, winning the first international fashion prize, and so whether it's cars or fashion, Kingston, Surbiton and Chessington have led the way."
From 1.45pm, there was a children's fancy dress show and adult fashion show, followed by a screening of The Italian Job in RBL's Surbiton branch on Hollyfield Road.
Also in attendance was the leader of Kingston Council and Portfolio Holder for Heritage and Culture, Councillor Andreas Kirsch who said: "It's brilliant being at the second Mini Day in Kingston, celebrating our past and celebrating the success and creativity and engineering in Kingston.
"And it's so wonderful seeing so many people enjoying all the Minis here, the Routemaster bus, the history, the social events.
"The weather's lovely and it's lovely coming together and celebrating. It's just great."
It truly was a wonderful day and we applaud TCB for organising it.
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