Earlier today we showed you a sneak peak at the 2011 Cooper, now it’s time to take a look at the Cooper S once again courtesy from our good friends at Bigblogg. We’ve already seen a few revealing spy photos of the car but these are the first official photos (leaked from a German magazine or German brochure) that show the car completely uncamouflaged.
In the previous post we saw Spice Orange (for the second time) and here we see the R57 Cooper S Convertible finished in Ice Blue.
Here it is, the 2011 MINI Cooper (Cooper S and JCW photos are coming later today). Thanks to our good friends at Bigblogg we have a sneak peak at the coming 2011 MINI refresh. Last week we saw a clear look at the Cooper S, this week it’s not just a clear look but final official photos of the 2011 MINI Cooper (in this case finished in the new color Spice Orange). The revised head lights and tail lights (LED) will naturally be shared between all models of the MINI but the front valance seen here is 100% unique to the Cooper. The R56 Cooper, R55 Clubman and R57 Cooper Convertible will all share the front design while the rear lights will be unique (as will the Clubman’s rear valance). (Rear photo after the break) continued →
Saab has made no secret that it wants to build a small MINI-like car in the vein of its classic 92 model (pictured above). Now it would appear “MINI-like” is becoming more literal. According to Auto News Saab and BMW will be meeting later this month about the potentially sharing the next generation front wheel drive MINI/BMW platform and potentially engines.
Despite Porsche officially turning down MINI’s offer of a race, MINI USA is still pressing ahead with their public campaign. According to our sources they are going to create a public campaign (perhaps even a petition) to get Porsche to Road Atlanta for the race on the 21st of June. Stay tuned…
Porsche has said “nein” to MINI’s request to race. Here’s Porsche North America CEO Detlev Von Platen’s answer to MINI’s challenge:
Dear Jim,
Imagine our surprise to discover our former employee, now the head of Mini, has challenged us to a head-to-head race. As you surely know, Porsche has a long history of racing success, with more than 28,000 wins over the last 60 years. In our early days, we pitted ourselves against the giants, so we’ve been in your shoes.
But as you also know, Porsche doesn’t race for fame, stunts or publicity. We race to challenge ourselves; we race to push sports car technology; we race to translate every win on the track to our cars on the road. If you
need a reminder of our intent, please take a look at this short video:
While your challenge seems like a fun and lighthearted campaign, we’ll stick to racing the way we have over the decades. We welcome you at Sebring, Le Mans, Daytona or any other sanctioned race where there is more at stake than T-shirts and valet parking spaces. We also invite you to any of the thousands of tracks around the world where Porsche owners compete each weekend.
Good luck with your race at Road Atlanta on June 21; we hope you enjoy the day.
Sincerely,
Detlev Von Platen
President and CEO, Porsche Cars North America
So what do you think? Or better yet, what do you think would have happened?
MINI USA sales were down over eight percent for May. According to MINI the very strong performance in May 2009 made the numbers look worse then they were. In fact year over year, MINI showed a stable performance with 16,804 units, up 0.1 percent and continued to increase its share in a market that is still lagging other segments.
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: 2011 LCI, R55 (Clubman), R56 (Hatch), R57 (Conv.) Jun 11th, 2010 22 Comments 
