Aug 27th, 2004
Here's an excerpt of an article published in yesterday's Times:
Dr Anton Heiss, managing director of the plant, said the German carmaker would consider raising production levels when a new model Mini is launched in the next few years. BMW began production of the current Mini in the summer of 2001, expecting to make 100,000 cars a year. This year it will make more than 180,000.
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Aug 26th, 2004
For the (counts fingers…) 3rd year in a row the MINI has achieved top ten status by the Kelly Blue Book and came in first in the hatchback segment. Here's the breakdown by catagory:
- SEDAN: Honda Civic
- LUXURY: BMW 5 Series
- COUPE: Infiniti G35 Coupe
- PICKUP: Toyota Tacoma PreRunner
- CONVERTIBLE: Nissan 350 Z Touring Roadster
- SPORT UTILITY: Volvo XC90
- WAGON: Volkswagen Jetta Wagon TDI
- VAN/MINIVAN: Honda Odyssey
- HATCHBACK: MINI Cooper
You can check out the entire list and read more here. Interestingly BMW (parent company to MINI) was named the brand that Kelly Blue Book forcasts will hold it's value over the next five years best.
Aug 25th, 2004
This month's MotoringFile Spotlight is a bit different than what we've done in the past and I think you'll find quite interesting. So interesting in fact that I'm at a loss in trying to introduce it…so I'll let Lawrence do that himself:
Present day.
Lawrence O'Toole. Graphic designer.
Twenty-eight. Philadelphia native
and resident. MINI owner since
2002. About to get a second MINI
Cooper S.
But more on that
later. Let's back up to a younger
Lawrence. A Lawrence just out of
college and driving a mildly tuned,
seriously underpowered and slowly
dying 1996 red 2-litre automatic VW
GTI. Lawrence likes the whole hot
hatch formula – small, nimble,
practical, fun. But Lawrence doesn't
like the slushbox – at the time of
purchase, no one in the O'Toole
clan knew how to drive stick, and in
a pinch, Dad or sis needed to be
able to use it. Eventually, a pair
of replaced transmissions would
spell the end of the relationship
with the GTI, and a time to make
that difficult decision: what next?
For a genuine car nut, just
getting anything was not going to
suffice. And whatever it would be it
certainly would not be sporting an
automatic. Problem was, the new GTIs
were too fat (both in weight and in
price), and everything else
desirable was too expensive or too
far off in coming to market. Nothing
sparked interest. Ugh. Until, one
day, flipping through mags at Tower,
Lawrence happens upon that now
familiar red and white Cooper
publicity photo.
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Aug 25th, 2004
If you're a regular MotoringFile reader this will be old news since we've not only covered the launch but have already posted an entire review of the watch. However if you somehow missed both of those pieces here's the official MINIUSA's introduction on the the MINI_Motion watch:
Only an automotive brand as distinct as MINI could inspire MINI_motion, an award-winning signature collection of products designed to connect experiences in and out of the car. The latest accessory, MINI_motion watch, features a digital face that can display time from vertical to a horizontal position. The MINI_motion watch is currently on display at the Museum of Modern Art and is available for the first time to the public.
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Aug 25th, 2004
Hard to believe isn't it? Here's an excerpt from the BBC article:
The 500,000th new-style Mini has rolled off the production line at BMW's UK plant in Oxford, watched by its proud new American owner.
Dan Cowdrey, 35, from Los Angeles, was waiting with girlfriend Kasondra Kenning to pick up the £15,000 silver Mini Cooper S at the factory in Cowley.
He said: “I have been in love with the Mini marque for years.”
BMW began production of the Mini in 2001 and has hit the half-million mark two years faster than was predicted.
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Aug 24th, 2004
We've got a few reviews coming up here at MotoringFile that we thought were worth a mention. First off we'll be featuring a review by a first time contributor on the Design Parts “TT Style” armrest that has long been a favorite of MINI owners worldwide. Another review that will feature a first time contributor will be on the Schroth Harness Belt system (donated by HMS Motorsport). And also on tap in the coming weeks Matt, the technical side of MotoringFile, will be reviewing freshly installed Supersprint exhaust (via Promini) on his Cooper. It'll be nice to finally get another exhaust review in that right column!
During the month of September I'll personally be working on a review of Ian Cull's new Auto-Up module for the front windows of the MINI (a feature disabled on US cars) while motoring as much as possible in a 2005 MINI Convertible. We'll have a thorough review as well as many daily features throughout the entire month on the new open top MINI.
If there are other reviews you'd like to see on MotoringFile let us know. Obviously we have limited time and a limited budget but we're always interested in hearing what people would like to see. Further if anyone has a product that they'd like to review for MotoringFile let us know!
Aug 24th, 2004
Over the past six months MotoringFile has featured reviews on both the Dension ICE-Link connector and the soon to be released for the MINI, official BMW/Apple connector. However, as you can expect, we get lots of mail asking us to give opinions on what's the best solution for certain price ranges and scenarios. This is especially the case when someone doesn't want to spend more than $50-$75 on a solution.
Recently the New York Times took on this subject of in-car iPod connectors from the high-end Dension units to the new iPod compatible Alpine headunits, to even low-end tape adapters. The articles does a good job of explaining the different potential solutions and downfalls of each. While it's obviously not vehicle specific, all the solutions could conceivably pertain to the MINI.
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