Who won the 1965 Monte Carlo Rally driving a Mini Cooper S?

Timo Mäkinen won the 1965 Monte Carlo Rally driving a Mini Cooper S.

Mäkinen and co-driver Paul Easter took victory in a works Mini Cooper S with a 1,071 cc engine. Their result followed Paddy Hopkirk’s famous Mini victory in 1964 and confirmed that the small front-wheel-drive car could defeat much larger and more powerful rivals on demanding rally roads.

The Monte Carlo Rally combined long road sections with difficult mountain stages, where the Mini’s light weight, traction and agile handling were especially valuable. Mäkinen’s win was one of three Monte Carlo victories for the Mini Cooper S, alongside Hopkirk in 1964 and Rauno Aaltonen in 1967.

The names in the wrong-answer list are all associated with Mini rally history, which makes this question easy to confuse. Hopkirk won the previous year, Aaltonen won in 1967, and Pat Moss was a celebrated rally driver who competed successfully in other Minis and events. Mäkinen later became one of the original “Flying Finns” of international rallying.