John Cooper Garages, the shop and dealership owned by Mike Cooper that has become the spiritual home of the JCW brand is reportedly closing its doors on August 4th. It’s unclear how much this has to do with Mike Cooper selling the rights to the John Cooper Challenge (now called the MINI Challenge) or partnering with BMW to offer the JCW kit at the factory. It’s also interesting to read this in light of rumors we ran last year saying that BMW was considering buying JCW brand. We know that BMW is developing the next JCW kit in house and with resources from within BMW and MINI rather than working with JCG. We also know that demand for the current, dealer installed JCW kit has fallen off dramatically since it became a factory option. Or it could simply have come down to location. I’m told that the current area in which the JCG is located isn’t able to draw a large customer base and isn’t easily upgradable to a larger/newer facility.
In any event, it’s sad to see this change. While it’s true that the BMW/JCW relationship will continue unabated (especially considering BMW has been spearheading JCW developement for awhile) the connection to JCG provided a direct link to a storied history of Mini tuning.
It’s worth noting that this probably will not have any effect on the availability of JCW or John Cooper Motorsports accessories in the near term.
We’ll have updates on this in the coming weeks. In the meantime you can checkout the JCG website and see some of the their Motorsport products (still available) here.
Related:
[ BMW/MINI to Buy JCW? ] MotoringFile
[ Cooper Timeline ] JohnCooper.co.uk
OMG… I’m shocked… a very sad thing to see indeed. I wonder what impact will this have on the short and long-term availability of JCW performance parts and accessories?
beyond stunned…
That is sad news. It would be like Disney making movies without a Disneyworld to go to. The marketing of JCW products are linked to the John Cooper garages and it’s link to the old days of the John Cooper garage Mini’s and Grand Prix cars before that. Even if having it there does not make a lot of money, or even loses money, BMW should keep the John Cooper garage open for marketing purposes, or maybe even open up a branch in the US.
A sad day for sure, rather shocked and suprised by this information as from what I’ve seen they have produced more JCW’s than either they or BMW though they would.
I hope to see Mike Cooper keep an association with Mini in an offical capacity as a in-house mini division tuner group simular to BMW M division. All in all a sad day for the mini community, its like a piece of history has been lost.
<blockquote>It’s worth noting that this probably will not have any effect on the availability of JCW or John Cooper Motorsports accessories in the near term.</blockquote>
I <strong>REALLY</strong> hope this does not affect the availability of the JCW kit. I have been planning to add this kit once the car is paid off.
That’s a shock.
Glad I got my JCM679 front brake air duct kit last week! Mike & Co. will be at the Historics next month. We should be getting the details then.
Well, never expected this kind of turnaround. I am shocked also, but meantime very happy, since about three weeks ago I made a decision and ordered a full JCW package (with everything, missing seats though). My baby is on its way to home now. I believe I will have a real historic piece in the future.
My best to JCW. Hope you’ll stay in the busyness, and hope this is just a break for better changes!
Really strange – you would think that JCW was now at its peak, especially given the success of the new Mini!
I don’t really like the idea of BMW taking the JCW brand and running at it alone. I presume that the brand will have been sold to BMW for a stack of cash and Mike has ensured a place within BMW as a JCW designer!
I think BMW / Mini is not so stupid and will keep Mike Cooper and the John Cooper Works name for the expensive accessories, but good ones.
JCW must be for the Mini, the Motorsport of BMW or the AMG of Mercedes.
All the best to John Cooper Works team.
“JCW kit has fallen off dramatically since it became a factory option”
I never would have guessed that! That is the biggest suprise in this news to me. Does anyone have any theories why?
Maybe since it isn’t a cash cow of labor charges the dealers stopped pushing them?
<blockquote>JCW kit has fallen off dramatically since it became a factory option</blockquote>
Does JCW not get a cut of the factory-installed kits? Though it would make sense for sales of the post-production kit to drop, I just assumed that JCW was providing the factory-installed kits to MINI and thereby probably selling a lot more engine kits overall. It’s sad news if they’re folding for good. Hopefully it’ll be brought under the BMW umbrella completely, kept, and cultivated. Maybe it’ll mean a new JCW logo! One can only hope. I desperately want a JCW car, but I abhor the mark.
>I desperately want a JCW car, but I abhor the mark.
Amen to that.
Nath I am not following – why would anyone dislike the JCW mark?
It’s not the scarlet letter, but the logo could use some work.
Got a brief email on this from a friend in the UK, he thinks that it is just the John Cooper Tuner/Garage that it is being closed, possibly a victim of JCW’s own success with the factory installed kit – John Cooper Works the company will still be in place, in some sort of partnership with MINI/BMW.
Mark – that’s what the above article was trying to say. JCW as a brand will of course continue on.
its the loss of the garage that is the sad part here. bmw will obviously fold jcw into some sort of m division (if they haven’t already!) and on it will….ummm…roll.
I am so sorry and sad at the news that JCW would be closing. I only hope it is just the “tuning” aspect that closes. I met John Cooper in 1995 and was mezmerized by him. He was such a gentleman! I was sad at his passing just as the new BMW/MINI was coming out. Now the garage! We can only hope that Michael will still be involved and the garage itself will remain in some form.
Whew,
That last post by Mark cleared up some of my confusion. I hope Gabe picks up some more info soon to clarify Mike Cooper’s position and future in the MINI universe.
My guess on the drop in popularity for the dealer installed JCW kits it lack of faith in the dealerships mechanics and more faith in the factory to do a proper install.
Hi Bilbo, I think it is more likely just the price issue. Cheaper (and faster) to have the kit factory installed, vs take it in to the dealer after delivery, and have them take off parts you already paid for, and replace them with JCW parts, all at BMW labor/hour charges.
<blockquote>Nath I am not following – why would anyone dislike the JCW mark?</blockquote>
I’m a designer, so I’m probably more sensitive than people who don’t do it for a living, but the JCW logo is sadly what I refer to as “intro.” What I mean by that is it has the look of being designed by someone just getting started in design – someone who just took <em>Intro to Graphic Arts</em> in their 2nd year of college. But I suppose I should outline the checkpoints by which a logo ought to be graded for the non-designers in the group.
<strong>1. It has to be scalable.</strong> A logo has to be legible and clean at 1/2″ in black and white (what’s called the “fax machine” test), while not looking bloated and chunky at 4″ in full color. That’s to say it should look as good on a postage stamp as it does on a billboard. On the JCW logo, the proportions are poor – with “John Cooper” disappearing into illegibility very quickly as the logo scales down. There’s also simply too much going on – outlines on the type, color rules, gradients – and it all muddles together at any size, and especially small. I’m looking at it here on my screen. It’s almost 2″ wide and I can still barely read it.
<strong>2. Strong, simple, and unique visual.</strong> I repeat, there’s simply too much going on – outlines on the type, color rules, gradients. Each element is overemphasized and thereby nothing really stands out. There’s no real “pop” to the logo, which comes mostly from a lack of strong contrast – from not emphasizing a particular design element such as scale, shape, line, or color. Look at the Apple logo, for example. Its design stands purely on shape. Not color, not line, not typography, but shape. It creates an elegant and recognizable shape that stands wholly on its own and creates memory. Likewise you could look at an all-typographical logo like Yahoo! or Google. They rely on elegant simplicity, not aesthetic overkill.
<strong>3. It should identify, not explain.</strong> The JCW logo isn’t so much guilty of breaking this rule in being too explanatory, but in simply being too generic. The columnar text set in an oval is so generic that I imagine that’s where all the outline text and gradations and color came from – to try to dress it up. I think as performance marque marks go, BMW’s M division does very well. It’s simple, recognizable, and works simply to identify that this is an “M” car. Any logo identifies, just as any hose will spray water, but in this case, that identification isn’t very strong. Back to the Apple logo. There isn’t an iPod, or a computer, or some other explanatory visual trying to tell the whole story of what the company does in the logo. It’s just the Apple. It identifies perfectly while explaining nothing.
Lastly, all of this is <em>my opinion</em> and a critique based on what I’ve read and what I was taught in design school. It’s easy for me to lay down my critique, but I fully appreciate that I’d have to spend weeks of going through the design process before I could even start to offer an alternative. So I respect that this is somebody’s work. These are simply my reasons for not liking the design.
Well put Nathaniel, I’m a tech writer and the graphic designer on our team says pretty much the same thing. Maybe JCW could hold a logo design contest, with the winner getting the first ’07 JCW of the assembly line 🙂
“We also know that demand for the current, dealer installed JCW kit has fallen off dramatically since it became a factory option.”
I appreciate the fact that the whole JCW package can be factory installed now. However, you must buy the “Sport Package” at $1400 to get a JCW car. Maybe it doesn’t bother most people, but I HATE buying something I don’t want just to get what I want.
However, having the dealer install everything would probably cost a lot more than the $1400.
When MINI does things like this it troubles me. They’re starting to think like the Big Three …
I think the garage may be closing as they have pissed BMW off one too many times, they kept releasing things for the MINI from their workshop before they had been official sanctioned by BMW.
Perfect example is the JCW Works kit for the Cooper S Automatic, they were fitting it to cars about 6 months before BMW had approved it. This meant that they were invalidating peoples warranties then people were complaining to BMW because they thought anything from JCW was officially endorsed by BMW.
I think this is partly why BMW wanted to buy the rights to the name, so they could control what carried the name.
Seeker,
What is it about the sport package that you wouldn’t want anyway? The 17″ wheels? They are required (with VERY few 16″ exceptions) for the JCW brakes (included in the factory JCW), so it makes sense to have those with a factory JCW car. I suspect this is the number one reason the Sport package is required.
The Xenon headlights? Granted, maybe you don’t care… but they are SO much better than the halogens, I can’t imagine buying a MINI without them.
The front fog lamps? OK, not critical – but nice to help fill in the toggle switches.
Or is it the DSC? Well, all MCSes come with ASC+T anyway, which is the part of DSC that everyone hates (off-the-line overzealous-nanny power interruption)… the “extra” stuff that DSC adds (for cornering control) is indeed a very GOOD thing to have when driving in inclement weather… so unless you’re trying to build a pure sunny day track car, I guess I can’t comprehend why someone wouldn’t want the DSC over ASC+T.
All I’m saying is, I don’t think there are any “show-stopper” features of the Sport package that most JCW buyers wouldn’t want. True, the S-lites are god-awful heavy wheels, but there is always that $500 web-spoke option… and besides, the S-lites would make good winter wheels for anyone who gets some of the white stuff each year.
I don’t blame MINI for requiring the sport package – it’s the easiest way to ensure all JCW MINIs get 17″ wheels, so there won’t be ANY conflicts with the brakes. And giving those power-hungry buyers DSC over ASC+T is cheap “insurance” too, possibly reducing the number of accidents a bit from idiot drivers (myself included! Heh).
Hey, Seeker, I may be wrong, but I don’t think you are required to buy the Sports Pkg to get the factory JCW kit. I just built a JCW on the MINI web site, showing a friend, no Packages were selected or required.
Mark,
Seeker is right. You probably used the stuff in Step 5. EVERYTHING in Step 5 is sold (and installed, if necessary) directly by the dealer.
Only steps 1 through 4 are factory options. It’s a very important distinction.
You probably didn’t read the disclaimer properly when you first entered step 5… but it does warn you about prices being subject to the dealer, etc.
Edge, oops, your right, that’s exactly what we did. Missed the JCW kit at the beginning (that does require the Sports Pkg).
Seeker, I also agree with your assessment of why the Sports pkg is required. I don’t think it is so much BMW/MINI trying to squeeze an extra $1400 out of the buyer – but more saying that if your getting a JCW you really need this as well.
Mark, Seeker was criticizing the Sports package requirement… I’m the one that assessed it and tried to justify it (successfully or unsuccessfully… that’s an individual’s call).
Yes, thanks – my dyslexia… 😛
The Sports Package is only a MINIUSA requirement. MINIUSA is forcing buyers to purchase options that are independent and unrelated to the JCW package. There is no equivalent requirement when the factory JCW is ordered from other parts of the world.
rkw… regarding the factory JCW in other parts of the world… do it automatically come with the JCW brakes too?
I just wondered that perhaps that’s the difference. If the factory JCW elsewhere is JUST the tuning kit, that would mean no 17″ wheel requirement, and would better explain the lack of sport package requirement… just a theory!
If that turns out to be true, it was the probably lawsuit-paranoid bean counters at MINIUSA who said that the factory JCW kit MUST be sold with the JCW brakes.
In Germany 16″ Bridge spoke wheels are a requirement rather than the sport package. They are the only 16″ OEM wheel designed to adequately fit and cool the JCW brakes.
Whenever I see the JCW logo, I immediately think of surfing. It looks like a surf board in the background. Cowabunga, dude.
<blockquote>Maybe JCW could hold a logo design contest</blockquote>
Though a fun idea, that’s where logos like the JCW usually come from – from contests or the just-graduated niece or nephew of the marketing director. Corporate identity is best left to the professionals. There are designers and whole firms that specialize in logos and if a change was going to happen, I’d want to see it professionally done. I’ve done identity work in the past and it’s <em><strong>not</strong></em> easy.
It comes down to Dollars and Cents. At the end of the day this is business whether we like it or not. I am sure Mike Cooper wants to retire young and rich and perhaps BMW offered him a mighty juicy offer for the rights to the JCW name, facilities and so on and so forth. In other words, an offer he couldn’t have refused.
Being in Mike Cooper’s shoes, I would have probably done the same
I don’t think JCW was suffering in the marketplace. Quite on the contrary the success and pedigree associated with this turner is what made it an attractive investment to begin with.
I am also not a bit surprised with the sales decline of the dealer installed JCW kit. Ever since MINI made it a factory installed option, it turned it into a no brainer for most buyers. First, a factory installed JCW kit carries with it even higher pedigree and much better resale value, not to mention it is cheaper than paying the astronomical 9+ hours labor charges at the dealer on top of the cost of the kit itself. And best of all, your new MINI doesn’t get taken apart to get it installed as it already comes it with
Nathaniel:
Thanks for the business-end opinion of the JCW logo. As a design student (residential) in college, I knew enough that I did not like the logo … now I know why. I told a friend I likened it to an ice cream sign above a shopping mall kiosk.
I have seen your posts here often. “I hereby nominate Nathaniel Salzman to intitiate a grassroots campain amongst his peers (not amateurs) to create the new un-official John Cooper Works logo.” Once the design work is done … getting them made should be fairly straight forward and inexpensive. Think of the $$$ rolling in Nathan!
Sad indeed…The end of an era..
Sad, sad. The Surbiton shop floor where the Cooper’s simple tubular chassis designs were marked out in chalk, the link with the great Cooper single-seater F1 cars and, especially for Mini, Formula Juniors powered by the venerable ‘A’ series, will be gone. 🙁 Cooper was the first real post-war British racing factory, dominating the F500 scene for years with the awesome Stirling Moss at the wheel, and the great Jack Brabham was World champ in 1959. Jackie Stewart cut his teeth in a Ken Tyrrell Formula Junior Cooper, and was almost unbeatable on the Continental circuits.
The hot-rodding of the Mini 850 was Cooper’s real legacy, as after the early sixties, Cooper’s racing drink-me was all used up, and the Mini was made into a legendary giant-killer by the fortunate collusion of Cooper and BMC. Before the Mini Cooper, there was no real collaboration between the mass market car-makers and a first rank racing factory, and Mini opened the floodgates – never before in a factory saloon car had so much high performance been available to the average joe right off the showroom floor – and in such numbers. This was reflected in the enormous tally of victories and high placing by Minis over the years – they were the first racer for many of the great drivers of all levels in Europe for years, as well. I would say their victory total is unrivalled by any other marque.
Cooper was kind of ignored by the middle of Mini’s run, but came on strong towards the end of the Classic Era, and I was a bit surprised BMW had the grace to recognize the Cooper name was an important part of the legacy they inherited. Cooper ended up having serious input in what makes our MINIs such a wonderful car, and I always grin when I see the name on my car – Cooper meant a fast Mini for me and so it goes with MINIs today. I made sure I had a BRG and White for reason.
As for logos and marking, I much prefer the good old Cooper round badge, with a simple, strong black font in a red circle, and I would found a way to get that on my MINI if had a Works, but that’s just me. 😉
BCNU,
Rob in Dago
Hey, JCW could also mean J C Whitney couldn’t it?
Rob’s giving you a serious run for the money on comment of the month Nathaniel.
Man, Any hopes that I had of getting one of those really cool coats (picture)are now squashed! End on an era indeed. Beers all around!
I vote for Rob in Dago. He sums it up better than I could. Remember that after BMC Leyland ended Cooper’s royalty payments and made the Clubman GT instead, JCGarages became a Honda dealership! It was only towards the end of production that Rover Group welcomed him back -and of course BMW when it took over. The Cooper boot badge is in the same font as Rob’s round Cooper badge.
What would Mini be without Cooper? Perhaps a Mini One, a Mini Diesel, or dare I say it a Mini Schnitzer.
How sad, still it never has been quite the same since Cooper let got of the original Ferring dealership. That was a special place.
beautifuly put rob…wow.
Edge,
You know me, check my gallery on NAM. I have the s-lites, fog lites and (my own design) hood stripes on my MCS JCW. The Xenon headlites are much better, I just don’t think they have to be able to bathe themselves. DSC ? No, thanks. Not crazy about the ASC-T, turn it off immediately. I pride myself in threshold braking, not getting into the ABS. But it is a good safety feature.
My point is this :
When I ordered both of my MINI’S I was impressed by the fact that I could get what I wanted without buying what I didn’t want. That’s seems to be rare because most manufacturers make you buy an appearance pkg to get a performance pkg.
I really liked that about MINI. It was in fact a big selling point with me. I’d rather not loose that.
I know, I know, I have serious anti-social tendencies …
“Or it could simply have come down to location. I’m told that the current area in which the JCG is located isn’t able to draw a large customer base and isn’t easily upgradable to a larger/newer facility.”
We can hope that this is the case vs the alternative.
When I first read this news flash it reminded me of the April fools day joke about the Mini division being sold off, ie. Just too shocking to be true…I sure hope this JCW story has a happy ending.
<blockquote>As for logos and marking, I much prefer the good old Cooper round badge, with a simple, strong black font in a red circle, and I would found a way to get that on my MINI if had a Works, but that’s just me. ;-)</blockquote>
I’m with you, Rob. I really like the non-works logo they’ve got on their site. I’d much rather have that too.
There’s a ton of history there, outside of the Mini/MINI world and it’s super-sad to see that go.
Great post man, guess we’ll see where the post-o-the-month shakes out. 😉
I have spoken to Mike a couple of weeks ago and he did mention the fact of closure in August but this is all to do with relocation to a newer facility. Nothing changes otherwise.
Cheer up people, history goes on 🙂
I’m told the dealership and shop will be closing. The JCW fulfillment for MINI will continue.
Seeker,
I think you’re seriously underestimating how important DSC is. I too HATE ASC+T, and what it does… and in dry weather, I often turn the system off as well, just so my power doesn’t get cut when I’m “getting on it”. And I too try to practice threshhold braking – it’s definitely superior to ABS… although I think ABS is a very good technology for the “average” driver who doesn’t know any better.
However, I don’t care how talented of a driver you are, DSC can do things to save your butt that you can’t even do yourself… case in point, are YOU able to cause only one wheel to brake? Of course not.
In bad weather (rain or snow), and making turns or curves, if you start to slip, DSC is EXTREMELY helpful at keeping you on track. So much so that other companies are releasing their own systems (different names, exact same technology) on their cars. I think that these systems are going to be standard equipment (maybe even government-mandated) before too long. Yaw control is far too valuable of a technology to be ignored in bad weather conditions.
I wish DSC was available without the ASC+T functions, because that to me is the ideal compromise for most driving. As it stands, I won’t recommend anyone not choosing the DSC option on their car. They give you a switch to turn it off, so it’s silly not to have it for those days when you might run into conditions that could be a little worse than you realize.
You can’t avoid getting ASC+T in an MCS, but you CAN choose to get the “good stuff”, which are the additional DSC functions. And I don’t fault MINI for that piece of the sport package when it comes to the JCW requirements.
I coulda sworn I typed a long comment today and hit “Submit Comment” at the end… is it “awaiting moderation” or something? Or did I lose the whole comment? 🙁
(If it ever shows up, this comment can be deleted…)
Due to our wonderful friends the spammers, MotoringFile has had to turn on it’s extra powerful spam filters. Because of that one of two comments a day get caught in it when they shouldn’t be.
Edge –
Nice rundown on the logic of DSC on road cars. The great advantage and disadvantage of the front-wheel drive car – trailing throttle oversteer – is great when you’re on a track, with maybe some run-off space when – and I mean when, not if – you need some ass-saving, but street driving is a whole different environment. In my mis-spent youth, I’ve sat shotgun on a sideways Mini on an on-ramp all the way onto the freeway once, and even tho the driver was very, very good, and he kept his foot in it all the way around, it wasn’t an experience I’d care to duplicate on public roads, and not many could.
The original Mini was very much over-engineered, which is one reason it was able to survive pretty much unchanged for so long, and Cooper, and other tuners, pushing for a larger performance envelope, made others take a good look at improving the average road car. MINI is now, as then, looked at by most buyers as a cutting edge car, with the various traction and braking controls soon to be viewed as essential safety factors that, yes, you’re right, IMHO, will be mandated rather than optional.
Cooper changed the face of modern racing cars by championing the mid-engined design, and were so revolutionary, the effects are still felt today. Cooper changed the Mini from a great small car design into a revolutionary spots sedan, and yup, the effects are also felt to this day. The new MINI has some big boots to fill, but it’s gotten a helluva start – the bar has been moved up for the other small cars, and with the safety aspects of DSC, ABS, and the like on MINIs, the other guys will have to step up and meet that level of excellence. Cooper’s little tweaks have come a long way.
BCNU,
Rob in Dago
Edge,
My MCS JCW has never been driven in the rain or snow so that benefit of DSC is lost on me. I just want a car to my specs … not someone elses. You like all that stuff ? Cool ! Have at it. I still lament the loss of the manual “choke”.
I’m worried, very worried that BMW still pay little if any credence to the heritage of Cooper. The name represents the very soul of the MINI and differentiates it from all the other hot hatches out there.
From what I have seen with BMW’s marketing machine since the closure of JCW Garages, MINI dealerships still have little if any understanding of their Works customers. Who before at least had the opportunity to soak up all the wonderful heritage as well as talk to people that were passionate about their MINI Cooper’s.