John Cooper Garages Re-Opens

Sections: JCW Jan 18th, 2007 13 Comments

Last summer John Cooper Garages sadly closed the doors on it’s longtime home. And while the JCW name lives on as the performance brand of MINI (based in Munich), many feared that the historical home of the brand would be lost forever.

However we’re happy to report that the old John Cooper Garages is once again in operation as a center for all things MINI. JCG is now the MINI Challenge Motorsports center. Here’s an excerpt from the MINI Challenge website on this new opening:

Following the closure of John Cooper Works at East Preston, we are pleased to announce the opening of MINI Motorsport Centre.

Using the experience of over 26 years at John Cooper Garages and John Cooper Works, MINI Motorsport Centre is proud to offer you the same personal service you have come to expect for you MINI. This includes engine and suspension upgrades, servicing and MOTs, track day and race preparation for your Classic or new MINI.

The 225bhp JCW upgrade for the MINI Cooper S is very popular and the 90bhp classic is still recognised as great value to all customers.

MINI Motorsport Centre is fully approved to build cars for the MINI Challenge race series and have track cars for hire both in MINI Challenge events and elsewhere on track. In addition to the experience gained from preparing the Works MINI for 24 hour races, there are a wealth of development parts exclusive to MINI Motorsport Centre that will soon be available to everyone.

You can read more below:

[ MINI Motorsports Center ] minichallenge.co.uk

Written By: MF Staff

GZ

“The 225 bhp upgrade”?
heyduard

Yep. The full race kit is listed at 225 hp. very nice headers! Them and Stahl have the longest primaries of the bunch.
GZ

Are we talking about the R56? This is what will be available in the states? If so that should make for a fast car combined with the lighter weight and extra torque. I’m surprised there has been no official word on this.
heyduard

Sorry no. The racing kit is for R53 and R50, developed by JCM/JCG. R&D for the works version of the R56 is being done in-house (BMW). Don’t know if JCG aka MMC is working on the R56. Hope so, as that will be another choice for tuning.

The soup definition: JCM -> John Cooper Motorsports (racing development; JCG -> John Cooper Garage (store front for JCM).

That’s wot I know.
GZ

Interesting! Was(is) that available for the R53 in the US? I had an ’05 JCW of the 210bhp variety and would have loved an extra 15 ponies. If so I might consider an ’07 JCM convertible. Thanks for the info Heyduard!
http://www.motoringfile.com/ Gabe

ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…â€œThe 225 bhp upgradeÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â?

We posted about this when it was first released back in 2004. Nothing new since then, essentially a race engine kit with no warranty. Presumably not meant for the street.
tsukiji

ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬”Is this a Tony Franks operation? ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬”What’s Mike Cooper doing these days? OT: With all of his Honda experience, Mike Cooper should be a top notch R56 tuner.
Alex

It would be very nice if mini makes a jcw upgrade package (header, intercooler, Cold Air Intake and blow off valve…) to de Mini Cooper S 07.. If anyone knows something about a jcw package for de Mini Cooper S Let me know..
heyduard

You can have the parts shipped from the UK. The exhaust package still has a cat as the full race kit is meant to turn the Cooper into a Clubsport car, ie, road legal race car, in the UK. Like Gabe said, no warranty.

If I had the cash outlay… :D
O(=^=)O Capn

I saw that but I just thought that it was a difference in how HP was measured in the US v the UK. Why does the Hp of the JCW MCS in the UK say 210 and in the US say 207? So, is this version 15 more ponies? I tried to find the article that Gabe was referencing but I couldn’t.
Alex

Does anyone knows a good site were i cand find the parts (UK) for the MCS 07 (USA Version)???????
Dave

as someone else asked, what’s mike cooper up to? is MMC headed by mike cooper?

being that the r56 jcw has already been shown, did bmw completely usurp the cooper namesake? is that why jcw/jcg had to close?
Merlin 2

Hi all

Just to let you know I have the John Cooper Works 225BHP upgrade on my 2003 MCS – wow what a difference and its far better than the 210 – more power, better delivery and the noise – its like it just came off the race track, whats more I can out drag a JCW GP It is available here in the U.K. for road cars but most of the dealerships dont even know it exists! I am going to have to put the Porsche Big brake conversion on now as the standard brakes are just not up to the job any more.

G

← MINI as a Collectible The 1 Series Question Gets More Interesting →

Sort by MINI model

Recent BimmerFile Stories

MINI Model Cheat Sheet

1st Gen MINI
R50: One & MC Hatch
R52: All 1st Gen MINI Convt.
R53: MCS Hatch
2nd Gen MINI
R55: Clubman
R56: Hatch
R57: Convertible
R58: Coupe
R59: Roadster
R60: MINI Crossover
R61: MINI Crossover Coupe
3rd Gen MINI
F55: Clubman
F56: Hatch
F57: Convertible
F60: MINI Crossover
F62: Traveller

Advertise with MotoringFile

If you or your company are interested in advertising on the most influential MINI website in the world, please visit our Advertising section. If you have further questions about becoming a sponsor or would like to see our rate sheet please feel free to contact us directly.