A sad ending to a great car. Here’s what happened courtesy of AUSmotive.com:
Ever wondered what happens if you drive your car over a mattress and just keep on driving? Well, wonder no more, as a thoughtful MINI Cooper S Cabrio owner has done the experiment for you.
As you can see from the pictures the result is not pretty (there’s two more pics after the jump). The owner had not long collected the car from a western Sydney dealer when she reportedly drove over a mattress of some description. Not realising something was wrong she kept on motoring. Soon enough, though, there was a distinct smell of smoke. The driver pulled to the side of the road and within minutes her new car was in flames and just as quickly it was a smouldering wreck.
MINI USA Press ReleaseWoodcliff Lake, NJ – January 9, 2009 MINI will introduce the next generation of its celebrated four-seat convertible at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Joining the 2009 MINI Convertibles on the show floor is the MINI E, the first electric car deployed by a manufacturer of premium automobiles for private use in daily traffic.
MINI Release: The MINI brand made further sales gains in 2008 to achieve a new all-time high. With a total of 232,425 deliveries it grew 4.3% over the previous year. In December the brand reported sales down 27.8% to 15,010 (prev.yr.: 20,800) vehicles. A temporary interruption in the MINI model programme also contributed to this relatively substantial decrease. The MINI Convertible ceased production back in August 2008 – with the new MINI Convertible not scheduled for market launch until late March 2009. continued →
Corriere della Sera (an Italian newspaper) had the opportunity to get not only a close look with the MINI Crossover Concept but actually had a chance to create a memorable photo-shoot.
The shoot took place at the Galleria Vittorio Emanuelle in Milan and marked the first time the city had allowed a car onto the premises for such on occasion. It also allows you to better judge the design and size as compared to the official photos we saw a few months back. It’s particularly nice to see the car surrounded by real people and real cars (even a MINI Clubman) to give it further context.
You can click on the photo above for a slightly larger look. However if you’d like to get a full size view, we’re broken the image down into five individual files below.
Britian’s Royal Mail will be introducing a new series of stamps later this month, one of them with a depection of a Mini on it.
From the distinctive lines of RJ Mitchell’s Spitfire fighter and the stylish chic of Mary Quant’s daring mini skirt to the calm of the Penguin Books jacket and the practicality of Robin Day’s Polypropylene chair.
But there’s one brilliant design that remains close to millions of people’s hearts – the Mini. In 1959 the first Mini’s rolled off the production lines at the British Motor Corporation’s plants at Longbridge, Birmingham and Cowley in Oxford.
For you stamp collectors among us, you can download the full pdf here.
(This article is specifically about the US-spec MINI JCW and not the version that comes with the aero-kit elsewhere in the world)
A lot has been made of the new factory JCW MINI not coming with the JCW suspension let alone the sport suspension as standard. In our review last week we found the car to be exceptional in all but two ways – lack of visual distinction and lack of an upgraded suspension. And it’s not rocket science how you fix both of those issues. JCW has the parts to do it, but they just decided leave the car relatively untouched and ready for each owner to tailor it to their own needs. Of course the problem (as we said in the review) is that MINI hasn’t done the JCW brand or the car any favors with this visual restraint. People simply can’t recognize a JCW MINI (like they do an M3) from across the parking lot and due to this there’s a lack of brand recognition as well. But worse for the enthusiast, the lack of an upgraded suspension signals a serious compromise in the character of the car. People want to believe in a brand and the ideals it stands for. They want authenticity. At this point it’s a little unclear how authentic the JCW is or will be. continued →
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
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Sections: R52 (Conv.) Jan 12th, 2009 31 Comments 
