MINI Reveals New Convertible

by Justin Berkowitz

Published: November 28th, 2008

MINI has sent out the press release and photo pack for its new MINI convertible, and I have to say “eh.” It the same looks as the MINI hatchback, and the first generation new MINI convertible. The interior is still cartoonish, the back seat appears to be of about the same usefulness as the first gen convertible (which would be nearly none) and the trunk still has the funny fold-down tailgate. MINI says they’ve made incremental improvements (in addition to the new platform for the car, which is now the same as the hatch has had for the last two years). The roof also slides back to function as a moonroof without actually folding the whole top down, like on the last model, and now the roll hoops don’t stick out as much. Engines are the same as the MINI Cooper and Cooper S hatchback versions, so 118 or 172 ponies are your options. As for me, I’d rather have a Miata. Fortunately for MINI, loads of people won’t agree. I’d bet on a waiting list.

Justin Berkowitz

Immensely bored law student. I've also got 3 dogs.

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Mcs on Nov 28, 2008
# ferrarimanf355 : mcs, for the price, I’d rather take the Cooper S hardtop and use the price difference to buy some bolt-on parts from Alta… To be totally honest with you, I'd do the same. The glass sun roof option gives you lots of open air at a lower price. But my point was that it was good to see a car company that was smart enough to find a way to make a bit more cash during lean times. Rather than being forced to offer "employee pricing," they can actually get away with cranking up prices by 10%.

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Zursch on Nov 30, 2008

Unless they've improved the rear blind spot visibility substantially, there will continue to be a lot of 6-month-old used Mini Convertibles on the market. I traded my Cooper S convertible for a hardtop and have (heh) never looked back.

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