Category: MINI

MINI Australia has announced the arrival of its latest model, the John Cooper Works Cabrio. It’s kind of a MINI Challenge racecar for the road, but without the roof, obviously!

“The MINI John Cooper Works brand continues to reinforce MINI’s authenticity, providing enthusiastic sports drivers a range of vehicles powered by the very same engine that’s used in the MINI CHALLENGE race series,” said Justin Hocevar, National Manager MINI.

That means JCW Cabrio owners will enjoy 155kW from their 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine, which is boosted by a twin-scroll turbocharger. MINI say this is the fastest Cabrio they have sold, and with a 0-100km/h sprint of 6.9 seconds it’s not too shabby off the line at all. The real joy of this engine, though, is its torque. The addition of a well sorted twin-scroll turbocharger means peak power is all yours from a low 1850rpm and available right through to 5600rpm. Peak torque is 260Nm, with MINI’s familiar Overboost function nudging things along to 280Nm.

The JCW Cabrio is fitted with a six-speed manual transmission ensuring the driver has complete control over that sweet, sweet engine. Its gearing also helps achieve an impressive fuel consumption figure of 7.1l/100km. Although, in testing the JCW hardtop, I discovered the gears are matched very well to the available power and that great economy does not come at the expense of unnecessarily tall gearing.

As to be expected the JCW Cabrio comes with a lot of fruit, and with a list price starting at $56,900 it would want to.

There’s a large image gallery on offer after the jump, along with MINI Australia’s full press release.

In Australia we have killjoys that can prevent a car manufacturer from broadcasting an entertaining television commercial. This is because, apparently, the sight of a sliding car means you will lose all sense of perspective and hit the streets without a care in the world for anyone else’s safety, much less your own. The skills you have learned from such exposure will set you on an uncontrollable path of death and destruction. IT MUST BE STOPPED!

But this is the internet, where you can learn to make bombs and stuff. Even though our PM is trying to control what we watch online, neither he nor any nanny-state loving wowser can stop you enjoying the three 15 second MINI ads shown after the jump.

You will see smoking tyres. You will see a sliding MINI. You will see some entertaining commercials. But, you will not die!

[Thanks to Chris for the tip]

A hat tip goes out to MINI who rolled car number 1,500,000 off the Plant Oxford production line on Monday. The success of the MINI brand under BMW ownership justifies the German company’s AU$790M investment into its Oxford facility.

Ian Robertson (pictured above), responsible for Sales and Marketing, said, “This is a great day for the plant and a wonderful milestone to reach in the 50th birthday year of MINI. The very first classic Mini rolled off the production line here at this plant on 8 May 1959.

“It was wonderful to see the passion that owners feel for MINI at the car’s recent birthday celebrations at Silverstone, when 25,000 people from around the world joined the party. It is a privilege to be part of the heritage and future of this car.”

The milestone car, a chili red Clubman, will be sold to a British customer.

Forty-three years ago motoring journalist Evan Green caused a sensation when he became the first man to drive across Australia from east to west via the red centre. As if that wasn’t enough, Green then conquered the north-south route immediately afterwards. The car? An original, first generation Mini. The journey covered a staggering 19,000kms.

Now, a second generation Green has followed in his father’s tyre tracks by driving a second generation MINI Cooper, of course, along the east-west route. Gavin Green was joined by photographer Mark Bramley and mechanical support was supplied by BMW Group Australia Senior Technician Darryl Cook.

The trio covered over 6,600kms in 10 days with the only modification to the standard road going car being a strengthened sump guard.

Green enjoyed the experience, “I wanted to give a different perspective on MINI in its 50th anniversary year and my father’s journey in 1966 has long been something I’ve wanted to pay homage to. It was an emotional experience because crossing Australia in this way meant we had the opportunity to witness some awe-inspiring locations and people, all of which is captured in the stunning collection of images we now have from the journey.”

British Airways commissioned the expedition in honour of MINI’s 50th birthday this year. The feature article is in the current issue of the airline’s in flight magazine High Life. You can read the online version here.

The clip above features Jim McDowell, Vice-President of MINI US, being interviewed by CNBC about the news MINI will be opening 17 new dealerships across the United States over the next 18 months. That’s on the back of being just one of two companies in the US to increase sales over the course of 2008. Well, that’s the good news.

The bad news is that MINI has just been ranked last in the most recent JD Power survey on Initial Quality. Watch McDowell try and shift the focus with some very average analogies about loving your wife. A future in politics awaits, no doubt!

[Source: MotoringFile]

Wow, that’s a long model name. In fact, so rare will the MINI John Cooper Works World Championship 50 be, with just 250 units worldwide, there’s almost one letter for each owner in the title!

The WC50 has been created to celebrate 50th anniversary of John Cooper‘s first Formula One World Championship. The driver that year, of course, was our very own Sir Jack Brabham.

The car was first released to the public a couple of weeks ago at the MINI United Festival, held at Silverstone in England. Until now, nothing official had been provided from the BMW/MINI marketing team.

Mechanically the engine specs match the regular John Cooper Works models. That means 155kW is all yours from the twin-scroll turbocharged 1.6-litre engine.

However, the WC50 is unique in other areas. Namely price. While nothing official has been announced, the scribes at MotoringFile are predicting €40K. That’s 70,000 of our little Aussie dollars. Yikes!

Mind, with just 250 worldwide, I think Australia will be struggling to get any WC50s on Terra Australis. Although, with the very strong Jack Brabham connection, you’d like to think we’ll get a few. Here’s a wild and baseless AUSmotive guess—pick a number, any number—I reckon Australia will get five of these cars.

So, apart from the limited run, and the seemingly exorbitant price, what else do you get for your money? Well, sadly, it’s just a bunch of model specific paint colours and interior options. Although the suspension is unique to this car. The body is painted in Connaught Green, which is supposedly the British Racing Green from the 50s and 60s. While the roof and bonnet stripes are Pepper White.

The regular JCW 18″ wheels are now painted gloss black and to help tie in that look the bi-xenon headlights have been given the black treatment as well. A factory “Joey mod”. Nice!

There’s a few other bits and pieces as well, carbon fibre mirrors, unique numbering for each car, yada, yada. Check out the press release after the jump for the full detail.

Now, that suspension. MINI say it is unique to the car, but the aforementioned press blurb doesn’t give a lot away, “Also key to the superior performance of the MINI John Cooper Works World Championship 50 is its suspension technology, which is unique for this vehicle class. In addition to the McPherson struts on the front axle and a central-arm rear axle otherwise not found in the small car segment, electromechanical power steering (EPS) also helps guarantee safe and thrillingly precise handling.”

So, it seems what we have here, in the finest BMW/MINI tradition is an excellent exercise in marketing. And, I have to say, despite the fact that there is no extra power, no lighter wheels or stripped out interior—you know, the sorts of things that would pay true homage to F1 success—the car has won me over. It looks sensational and with such a limited run, rightly or wrongly, you just know these cars will be snapped up in a flash.