A white roof above a red car with a pair of 37s on the doors tells one story. It tells the story of Paddy Hopkirk’s 1964 Monte Carlo Rally win at the wheel of a Mini Cooper S. It’s the stuff of legend.
But that famous win – Mini’s first of three on the Monte in the ’60s – is a 62-year-old history lesson these days. Back then, it was a voyage of discovery.
“I had no idea the Mini could win,” Hopkirk told DirtFish in 2020. “The Ford Falcons were so powerful. The advantage we had in that year was the weather – there was a lot of snow around and the roads were ploughed and quite narrow.
“Even when we’d won, we didn’t know about it. I was woken up at about four in the morning after the rally by a journalist who told me we’d done it – these were the days before the more advanced timing. After that, everything went a bit mad. We were on the television, I was interviewed by Life magazine in America. The Mini was a big story across the Atlantic.”
It certainly was. And now, history is ready to repeat itself. For Monte read Michigan and step forward the modern-day version of 33 EJB into the Sno*Drift Rally.
Luis Perocarpi takes up the story.
“We’ve been running Minis for 10 years in road racing,” he told DirtFish. “And it was time to bring Mini back to its roots.
“I grew up wanting to be a rally driver and I thought I would be here 30 years ago – but we went road racing. After winning four manufacturers’ championships and two drivers’ championships in the last 10 years, it was time to do something different and to bring Mini to rally, which is what I wanted to do for the last 40 years. So here we are.”
Perocarpi is the founder of LAP Motorsport, the tuner of some of America’s fastest Minis ever to turn a wheel on a racetrack. While he’s enjoyed major circuit success in the last decade, success at the Baja 1000 demonstrates he’s just as comfortable on dirt.
The arrival of Mini USA is a major coup for the ARA. There’s a car each for Luis and his son Cristian. Perocarpi Jr gets the full front-wheel drive experience in the 33 EJB-plated John Cooper Works, while Luis enjoys the benefit of all-wheel drive with the Countryman.
Luis added: “These are both brand-new models and they’re completely stock – all we did is take the interior out and put a roll cage and all the safety equipment in. This is a season of learning for us.”
An O2WD Sno*Drift podium for Perocapri Jr is an exciting indication of what’s to come from the retro #37.
“I’m really proud of this car,” said Cristian. “This is a stock car… I mean, I have Apple Car Play. I have GPS and I can even give you the weather forecast for the next seven days!
“I didn’t know what to expect, this is only my third rally coming from road racing, so I didn’t really have a playbook for the snow and ice, but it was great. It is daunting coming in [to rallying] because on a road course in the US or even in Europe, every lap is almost the same. But you come here and every stage is different, every corner is different – some of it translates, but I’m having a ton of fun.”
Like his dad, he’s wondering why he waited so long to answer the call of the stage. So much so that he’s got some advice for those racers thinking about rallying.
“To all my road racing friends,” he smiled, “get here now, because this is like the best thing ever!”
That aspect has never changed. And now, thanks to commitment of Mini USA and the unyielding enthusiasm of the Perocarpi family, the legend lives on.
