By BMW Group
Toronto, ON – In celebration of MINI’s 50th birthday yesterday, 500 MINIs turned out to celebrate the 50th the beloved icon at Polson Pier in Toronto. More than 1200 MINI enthusiasts turned out for the event, which was the largest MINI gathering in Canadian History.

“The event was an astounding success,” said John Cappella, Director, MINI Canada, “showing once again that MINI is more than a car, it is a community of enthusiasts with a passion for excitement!”

The evening event featured performances by world break dancing champions Supernaturalz, a live DJ show, a MINI design challenge contest, graffiti show, go karting, raffles, a charity BBQ and glamour shots where MINI lovers could take photos with a special 50th anniversary MINI.

At dusk, MINIs and its fans watched a screening of the 2003 version of ‘The Italian Job’ at Polson Pier drive-in theatre. It was quite a site to watch a sea of MINIs in the drive-in lot watching the iconic brand on the big screen.

Before the Polson Pier event, MINI lovers met at MINI retailers from as far as St. Catharines and Waterloo to drive down as a group to Polson Pier. A special MINI designed by the retailers led each MINI parade to Polson Pier.

The unique MINI designs were part of a design challenge competition where MINI attendees voted for their favourite customized MINI. MINI Durham took home the prize by creating a replica MINI cop car called the MINI Interceptor with flashing lights and all.

All the money from the MINI birthday event, approximately $7,000, was donated to The Remix Project, an organization that helps youth achieve their goals of working in creative and cultural industries. The Remix Project helps young people by providing a fully operational creative facility (recording studio, video editing suite, design lab, business incubation centre) as well as pairing them with industry mentors, helping them with bursaries or scholarships for post secondary education, assisting them with internship searches, or offering information and support in applying for grants or loans to help them with their business ventures.

BMW Group Canada, based in Whitby, Ontario, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BMW AG and is responsible for the distribution of BMW luxury performance automobiles, Sports Activity Vehicles, Motorcycles, and MINI. BMW Group Financial Services Canada is a division of BMW Group Canada and offers retail financing and leasing programs and protection products on new and pre-owned BMW and MINI automobiles, as well as retail financing for new and pre-owned BMW Motorcycles. A total network of 40 BMW automobile retail centres, 19 BMW motorcycle retailers, and 25 MINI retailers represents the BMW Group across the country.