Here's some miscellaneous information that I heard while in Oxford recently. Some of it is certain and some of unsubstantiated at this point and some of it is very confirmed.

  • The Anthracite R90s are out in the UK. I saw them at a dealer while over there.
  • An official armrest is coming beyond the retrofitted MINI-FINI one at dealers now. This isn't expected soon and maybe coming early next year.
  • An automatic Cooper S is coming. Knowing that the current CVT is barely capable of handling the torque in the 115hp Cooper we can guess it probably will be a more typical auto found in current BMWs. This will happen sooner rather than later.
  • I've also heard (not from the plant) that MINI is currently dealing with the Windshield cracking and pitting issues. I've been told “new news will be coming shortly” Of course we'll report anything as soon as we hear it.
  • There are strong rumors of a new street legal JCW kit with at least 20hp more than the current version. We may even see this sometime as early as late 2004.