Speed Champions

1967 Mini Cooper S Rally and 2018 MINI John Cooper Works Buggy

Two Minis, fifty years apart, and somehow both of them nail it.

Brick Rated Score

4.4/5

Set 75894 · 2019

Pieces492

Minifigs4

Year2019

Set number75894

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The verdict

I went in expecting the classic 1967 Rally car to be the star and came out loving the scrappy little Dakar buggy just as much.

The old Mini has that roof rack with two spare tires held on by actual rubber bands, which is such a specific, correct detail that I laughed out loud when I got to that step. This is a real toy box set, two complete builds, four minifigs, and a piece of racing history spanning five decades in one box. If you love Minis or you're just getting into Speed Champions, this is one of the best doubles the theme has ever produced.

Best for: Mini enthusiasts and Speed Champions collectors who want two eras of racing history in one box

The full review

What it is

I'll be honest, I didn't expect to care much about the 2018 buggy when I opened this set. I bought it for the vintage Mini. But building the John Cooper Works Buggy first won me over because of that suspension setup, it actually flexes over uneven ground, which is a small thing that makes it feel like a real off-roader instead of a toy shell. Then I got to the 1967 Mini Cooper S Rally and understood why Brickset called this their favorite Speed Champions set ever made. The proportions are spot on, the front and rear both read instantly as a Mini, and the roof rack detail with two spare tires strapped down is the kind of touch that tells me the designers actually looked at photos of the 1967 Monte Carlo Rally winner and cared about getting it right.

The catch

The catch is the stickers. There's a big sheet and a lot of them wrap around curved surfaces on the rally car, so getting them straight takes patience and a steady hand. I also won't pretend 492 pieces feels generous once both models are built and sitting on a shelf, some buyers expected a bit more heft for the price. And the buggy's suspension, while a great feature to build, is a little delicate if you're handling it often rather than displaying it.

Who it's for

If you love Minis, rally history, or you want a Speed Champions set that gives you two totally different vibes in one box, this earns a spot on your shelf. Skip it if you want maximum piece count for your money or you hate wrestling with stickers, because this set has more of the second than most in the theme.

The parts story

What the build is actually like, and the pieces worth knowing about.

Building this one is really building two small, focused projects back to back. The buggy goes together first and fast, its open frame and roll cage snap into place quickly and the working suspension is the most fun ten minutes of the whole set. The 1967 Mini takes more care, especially getting the roof rack rubber bands seated right and lining up those stickers on the curved bonnet and doors without bubbling them.

The standout piece for me is that roof rack assembly with the two spare tires held on by actual rubber bands, it's a small production choice that makes the classic Mini feel authentic rather than generic. The four minifigs are also a real plus, two female mechanics in matching team overalls printed with MINI branding are a nice bit of representation you don't always get in this theme. Part count sits at 492, reasonable for two builds, though it's the small printed and specialty pieces, the rally car's grille, the buggy's roll cage, that do the heavy lifting for character rather than sheer volume.

Fun facts

01The set combines two real cars from different eras: the 1967 Mini Cooper S Rally, winner of the 1967 Monte Carlo Rally, and a 2018 MINI John Cooper Works Buggy that competed in the Dakar Rally with the BMW X-raid team.
02Brickset's review called it their favorite Speed Champions set the theme had produced up to that point, praising how much better the rally car looks built than in official photos.
03The set includes four minifigures, and two of them are female mechanics for the Dakar buggy team, both wearing identical black overalls printed with sponsor logos and the MINI emblem.
04Released in January 2019 with an RRP of 49.99 dollars, the set retired around the end of 2020 and has since more than doubled in value on the secondary market.