iAfrica has a great article about the Mini's rally success in the mid 60's. For those that are unfamilar with with this part of the Minis history it's a must read. Here's a small excerpt:

Ask anyone about the Monte Carlo Rally and you're sure to end up discussing Sebastian Loeb, Petter Solberg and Markko Martin, Citroen, Subaru and Ford – the young guns, and mighty machines that have come to the fore in the sport. But, if you talk about the Monte Carlo Rally to your parents and their friends, you'd probably find they'd remember Mini, Makinen, Aaltonen and Hopkirk…

“Who the hell are they?” many younger readers will ask, but to those in the know, the old classic Mini, Paddy Hopkirk, Rauno Aaltonen and Timo Makinen will stir up some emotional memories. Who would have thought that the little old Mini would have swept the board in the Monte Carlo Rally in the mid sixties?

A cult car

But, the Mini Cooper did just that, and in so doing it became one of the first real cult cars out there. The little family car designed to be the transport of the local nurse became so much more than that – its rally success prompted the likes of the British Prime Minister and the Beetles to write to Mini's winners in salute of their successes.

And the Mini shot to star status, everyone wanted one and everyone got one, Mini was cool and the Monte Carlo Rally made it cool.

The Mini was first entered into rallying during 1963 and immediately made its presence, and potential, felt. Designer Alec Issigonius and John Cooper – the legendary racecar maker who re-invented the rear-engined F1 cars that have evolved into the cars we now watch every second Sunday – came together and decided to rally the Mini.

Cooper had taken a prototype Mini to the Italian Grand Prix and his drivers Jack Brabham, Bruce McLaren and Roy Salvadori drove it and predicted great things to come from the little wonder. And BMC entered a team of Cooper tweaked Minis in the Monte Carlo Rally, and rewrote rally history.

Starting in Minsk, Paddy Hopkirk drove the Mini to Monte Carlo. The rally started from several points around Europe, converging on Monte Carlo where they would race in the Alps close to the Mediterranean resort. Also in the rally were the Saabs, Ford Falcons, Mercedes-Benzes and many more powerful cars, but Hopkirk's little Mini stormed through the snow to a sensational victory.

Felling giants

The Mini had felled motoring giants on its way to an historic victory, this week forty years ago…

Minis went on to win again. Timo Makinen did the deed in '65 and Rauno Aaltonen repeating the feat a year later. Makinen led a Mini 1-2-3-4 in '67, but the cars were excluded on a technicality outside of the rally rules and Mini and Coopers then went track racing with great success.

You can read the entire article here.