BMW, who own MINI, have agreed to put into production yet another variant of Issigonis’ amazing small car, which, like all of us as we get older tend to put on weight. It is now so far away from the original concept they should not even use the name Mini (or as BMW likes us to use MINI).
We already have Mini Hatch, Convertible, Clubman and Countryman models, and others like the “John Cooper Works”, and since John Cooper has been dead for 18 years, they are really flogging a dead horse.
Under BMW ownership, Mini’s first JCW GP came out in 2006 – based on the first-generation hatchback at the time – with upgrades to performance, aesthetics and the interior, while another version was launched in 2012 based on the second-gen platform. Only 2000 examples of each iteration were produced globally.
Motivation will likely come from the same 2.0 liter turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine that produces 170 kW/320 Nm in the front-drive Hatch and Convertible, and 170 kW/350 Nm in the 4WD Countryman and Clubman, but tuned to new heights for the GP.
