Family Ties: Frank Stephenson

It would be a leap, albeit not a massive one, to call Frank Stephenson a specialist on revivals, but in creating the MINI and the McLaren P1 the designer brought two institutions back to the fore. 

Both had to bear the weight of history. The MINI was launched by BMW into a world still in awe of and adoring the Alec Issigonis original, decades since it was launched but only a matter of years since it went out of production.

Likewise, the P1 was billed as the ultimate driver’s car, from a world championship winning Formula 1 team returning to road car production in force. Stephenson signed off the design of the MP4-12C, the first car of McLaren Automotive, but the P1 ramped things up a notch or three.

Side by side, which is how you’ll find the P1 and MINI One at the Scramble on our Family Ties lawn, you’d be hard pushed to know there is an unbroken thread between them.

Looking back on the MINI today, the furore was almost certainly overblown. Safety regulations inevitably meant the MINI couldn’t be mini and it is now an appreciating modern clasic. Stephenson and his team managed to infuse plenty of the Mini’s soul, though, and it’s well packaged, entertaining and punchy to drive, with engaging steering.

The P1 had no issues in styling terms, if anything preferring to set itself apart from the F1 of the 1990s. Straight out of blocks it was head to head with the LaFerrari and Porsche 918, yet infamously it would years until that truly happened, and remains the go-to McLaren supercar of recent times.

In much the same way, the MINI One has become the go-to MINI of the modern age. 

You'll find this Frank Stephenson pairing as part of Family Ties at the Scramble.