#mini

The "New Mini" first appeared in North American showrooms as a 2002 model, as part of the turn-of-the-century wave of retro-styled machinery that included the Volkswagen New Beetle, Chrysler PT Cruiser and Chevrolet HHR. It took about a decade for the 21st-century Mini to begin showing up in car graveyards in large numbers, and they remain easy to find today. Here's an '07 Cooper S model in a Colorado yard.

Mini has released the 2025 Mini Cooper Hardtop, specifically the performance variant that’s likely to appeal to enthusiasts that aren’t interested in the hardcore John Cooper Works version. The manufacturer is reviewing the model at the New York auto show this week and looks to have kept the car that’s slated for sale in North America quite close to its European counterpart — with a few exceptions.

What is technically the largest MINI (which is a very strange sentence to write), the Countryman is getting an infusion of horsepower and a smattering of inventive color schemes.

Mini has released interior images of its next-generation Cooper hatchback. While the model is technically called the “Mini Hatch,” with variations of Cooper denoting the trim, the new car will do away with all that and get back to basics.

Everything else is throwing the model well into the future with one important caveat. Tomorrow’s Cooper will boast the brand’s latest technology and a dashboard that’s supposed to draw inspiration from the 1959 original with all the hallmarks of the digital era.

Despite bearing a name sounding suspiciously like the precise time dinner is served in a strict household (or the latest Oakland A’s score, let’s be honest), this newest Mini is a $45k invitation to go-kart fun.

“Save the manuals” has transcended simple meme status and has grown into a mantra for many enthusiasts desperate to hold onto the mechanical engagement that comes from shifting one’s own gears. Electric vehicles and general laziness have led to a sharp decline in the number of cars offered with manual transmissions in the U.S., but some automakers are dedicated to keeping them alive. Mini is doing its part with a new manual transmission driving school. 

My current test ride is a Lexus LC convertible. Or was, as it went back to its home on press-fleet island about an hour ago.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock since 2019, you’ve probably realized that just about every major carmaker has plans to go “fully electric” at some point in the rapidly approaching future. That’s going to mean big changes in the way we buy and use cars, obviously— but change is hard, and not every company is going to be willing or able to make those changes.

That equally obvious fact begs the question: who’s not gonna make it?

I’m back with more boring used car content, a topic some of you apparently despise with a passion. Caution: More used-car discussion ahead, get out while you still can if this is the case! For the rest of you, let’s review the impractical car suggestions you’ve made that earned a spot on the Yes, I Like list.

Today’s article is a follow up to the one from about a week ago, wherein I outlined my current used car shopping idea: something fairly impractical with two doors. The article racked up 195 comments thus far, and I’ve read them all and taken notes.

Let’s get down to your suggestions. First up are the cars I won’t be considering.

The Mini Convertible will continue for the foreseeable future, with a new model to come in 2025.

“There is great demand for the latest, freshly updated model,” Bernd Körber, Head of the Mini brand said. “The vehicle’s future success is convincing.”

Zesty yellow is the new, exclusive color for 2022 Mini convertibles. However, there’s no indication that yellow ragtops are fueling that demand.

Tasked with building something to serve as the official safety car for the 2021 FIA Formula E World Championship, Mini has delivered a vehicle that bridges the gap between the raucous and rowdy John Cooper Works model and all-electric Mini Electric. While one-offs aren’t usually all that interesting to your average consumer, the Mini Pacesetter seems to be providing the automaker with a space to test some of its theories about how a JCW EV might take shape and will likely foreshadow such a product.

The manufacturer has even acknowledged this, though it’s a little early to expect an electrified version of Mini’s flagship performance model. Despite looking like it’s ready to compete in a series of its own, the Pacesetter uses an unmodified motor lifted from the Mini Electric. That means about 180 horsepower and a smidgen over 200 foot-pounds of torque, which would have been outstanding on the featherweight original. But the last few decades have forced Mini’s products to become comparatively portly, requiring the brand to shave as much weight off the Pacesetter as it could.

Mini USA today proclaimed the pricing and availability of the 2022 Countryman Boardwalk Edition, a variant for those who don’t mind drawing attention to themselves with its unique, eye-catching coloration.

Buy/Drive/Burn continues its cheapest of series today, as convertibles follow up the vans, trucks, and sedans we’ve covered already.

When it’s time for ragtop fun on the lowest possible budget, which of these three gets the Buy?

In a YouTube video announcement yesterday, Mike Peyton, vice-president of Mini of the Americas, let the air out of Mini Takes The States for 2021, postponing the bi-yearly event which was canceled in 2020.