Colorado, California, Texas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Minnesota, and probably others abbreviate the make “Mini” (or “MINI”) as “MNNI” on vehicle registration forms.
I’ve seen guesses that it’s to distinguish Cooper Minis (i.e., real Minis) from these newer BMW Minis. Looking at the lists of abbreviations provided by a few states myself, it seems like it may be to avoid confusion with Miniscooter, which had already (?) been assigned “MINI”.
Any insight?
Mini was originally just another model name like Mustang, Mirage or Fiesta, for Morris and then Austin. When the Longbridge factory was broken up, the marque was sold to BMW, who protect it a vigorously as Mac D do theirs.
Mini was its own marque by the end of the 60’s, though, and I think the only time they were “officially” imported to the US was after that.
I think the only problem with that explanation is why would they feel the need to change the code? It’s not like they were selling them simultaneously or anything. Car marques change ownership all the time. I presume a brand-new Jeep has the same code as an old Kaiser or Willys era Jeep.
Actually BMW did rather better than just grab a brand. They kept the Cowley plant in Oxford - which is worth a fortune. In fact, all things considered (Jaguar Landrover etc) BMW were rather smart