2003 Mini Cooper S - Not Running - Complete Car For Parts on 2040-cars

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Why the 2015 Detroit Auto Show will be the best since The Crisis

The Detroit Auto Show clearly has its swagger back, and the 2015 edition will be a veritable feast for the enthusiast senses. We're talking serious performance, and it will be exhibited in a variety of forms. Sports cars. Supercars. Muscle-bound luxury cars. They're all set for splashy debuts in January in the Motor City. It's another signpost that companies have recovered from the global economic crisis that gripped the industry from 2008-09. For a while, automakers played it safe at Detroit and other shows. Environmentally friendly cars were important, especially for General Motors and Chrysler that were living on loans from Uncle Sam. Ford, Toyota and other companies generally focused on their best-selling or core models. With a few notable exceptions, recent auto shows have been a bit more buttoned-down than in the past. Boring probably isn't the right word, but austerity has been reality. That's changing. Car companies are making money. Sales are up. Aside from the many nagging recalls – and they are notable – the industry now has the time and energy to make performance cars a priority. That will be offered in hard evidence in Detroit. A year from now when we look back at this auto show, we'll sum it up with one word: Horsepower. But make no mistake, this isn't frivolous. Sports and luxury cars are expensive. They're profitable. They boost images and highlight strengths. With that in mind, here are five significant performance-oriented reveals to watch for when the show kicks off in less than two weeks. 2016 Acura NSX Acura's reborn NSX is a strong bet to earn plenty of votes for our Editors' Choice awards. It's one of the most anticipated – and strung-out – reveals of the year. Think back: we actually saw an NSX concept at the 2012 Detroit show, and Acura has spent the last three years teasing the car in a variety of ways. The slow burn, however, means we know a lot about the NSX. It's will use a mid-mounted twin-turbo hybrid powertrain and run with all-wheel drive. It will also wear an innovative zirconium e-coat paint, a new paint process that Honda says is more environmentally friendly. Honda has also said it will build the new NSX in Ohio, where a large part of the car's development work has been done. The original NSX was produced from 1990-2005 and helped establish Acura's performance credentials in the United States. It was a landmark car and a shot across the bow of Ferrari, Lamborghini and others.

2014 Mini John Cooper Works GP

About three weeks prior to this brief yet balls-to-the-wall drive on the Spanish island of Mallorca, I saw that Mini USA announced pricing for the keenly anticipated Mini John Copper Works GP. And that number would be - *a-hem* - $39,950 for starters.
I am always intent upon finding the pinnacle of what a certain car promises me, and almost at any cost. Almost. When I think "steaming hatchback," I think of something exactly like this Mini GP, and the steep price doesn't squelch my pleasure. They're only building 2,000 of them anyway, and the units coming to the US will start arriving in owners' hands on March 16 of next year. These buyers will be extremely happy and remorse-free.
Five scorched laps at the very Mini-perfect Circuito Mallorca RennArena showed me all.

Mini Cooper Hardtop will soon receive its biggest makeover in two decades

Now well into its third generation, Mini's retro-styled Hardtop has been around since BMW rebooted the brand 20 years ago. Stylists and engineers are working on the fourth-generation model, and the company revealed the cheeky hatchback is in line to receive its most significant makeover to date. Mini boss Bernd Korber told Autocar that the project's motto was "don't screw with an icon," which means the fourth-generation Hardtop will keep the heritage-inspired design that has characterized it for the past two decades. And yet, it will be drastically different than the model that's currently in showrooms. It will be smaller, though it likely won't be as tiny as the original Mini from 1959, and it will showcase a purer approach to design. The idea of a smaller, lighter Mini has us wondering if the new Hardtop could take some inspiration from the 2011 Rocketman concept. "What you'll see in 2023 is that we've clearly modernized it by taking a big step -- the biggest step in the last 20 years -- but it will be unmistakably a Mini," Korber affirmed. He said the Hardtop is to the Mini brand what the 911 is to Porsche; it's the stylistic cornerstone of the range, the model that sets the beat that other models dance to. Balancing the need to move the Hardtop forward with the desire to honor tradition is a challenging task, according to the brand. We don't know where its stylists drew the line yet, or whether the next-generation Hardtop will borrow styling cues from other cars in the company's past, like the square-front Clubman launched in 1969. Mini told Autocar it's defined by more than design; it cited proportions, a compact feel, and a friendly personality as key ingredients in the Hardtop's recipe, which hints at what to expect -- and, significantly, what not to expect. Mini shifted the Hardtop's evolution into high gear several years ago.  "Mini started out as a brand that was very clean in terms of design. There were only four switches and one dial [inside]. We somehow moved away from that, because so many more functionalities have entered the vehicle. Let's say that would be our goal, to arrive back at something that would be as clean and simple as the original but offers the modern technology and safety features of today's cars," BMW Group design director Adrian van Hooydonk told us in 2018. "Bigger changes are around the corner, but it will still be a little bit retro," he added.