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Mini John Cooper Works Convertible gets a belated show debut

Mini originally introduced the new John Cooper Works Convertible way back in January. But since the German-owned British outfit wasn't attending the Detroit Auto Show, we were stuck waiting to see it until today at the 2016 New York Auto Show. The JCW Convertible is something of an anomaly, lacking any real competitors, but that doesn't make it any less enticing. Like the standard JCW Hardtop, the 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder is good for 228 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque. The cab will hit 60 in 6.4 seconds, which is slower than perhaps its closest competitor, the Mazda MX-5. The trade off here, of course, is a lot more space, style, and optional extras than the cozy MX-5. Mini's hugely diverse options catalog is present and accounted for with the JCW Convertible, giving interested consumers a degree of customization that every automaker short of Porsche and hand-built exotic brands will have trouble matching. Of course, it comes with a frankly absurd sticker price – Mini's top-end droptop starts at $36,450, including the $850 destination charge. That figure swells fast. Expect at least $40,000 for a decently equipped example. You can play with the JCW Convertible's configurator, or just check out our first round of live images of Mini's latest high-performance model. Related Video: EXTREME DRIVING FUN, INTENSIVE OPEN-AIR PLEASURE: INTRODUCING THE NEW MINI JOHN COOPER WORKS CONVERTIBLE Woodcliff Lake, NJ – January 14, 2016... When passion for motor racing is the driving force and intense open-air pleasure the goal, the new MINI John Cooper Works Convertible takes the ideal line from the word go. The second John Cooper Works model of the latest generation combines engine and suspension technology optimized for use on the race track with distinctive design and equipment features as well as the extensively refined qualities of the new MINI Convertible. This lends even greater fascination to the vehicle concept of an open-top 4-seater with outstandingly sporty performance properties that is still unique in the small car segment. The latest version of the MINI John Cooper Works Convertible offers the most exclusive way of enjoying extreme driving fun. With its spontaneous power delivery and highly emotional sound, the most powerful engine in the British brand's portfolio with 228 bhp is strikingly impressive. The fully electrically operated textile top is particularly low-noise, open or closing in just 18 seconds at the press of a button.

Next Mini Convertible spotted on flatbed truck

Mini is well underway testing the third-generation of its four-place Cooper Convertible, as evidenced by these photos, showing the new droptop riding along on a flatbed.
Codenamed the F57 - as opposed to the "F56" designation for the Hardtop - the Convertible will ride on the same UKL front-drive architecture that will underpin its hardtop brother, not to mention its German cousins, the BMW 1 Series GT and X1. According to our spies, it'll share more than a few of the BMW i's lightweight technologies and will include such advanced features as electronically adjustable dampers. That seems like some high-dollar tech for a droptop Mini, but we'd be quite happy to see it arrive all the same.
From the beltline down, we can expect the Convertible to feature almost identical styling to the Hardtop. Based on the spy photos, there's not a lot to see above the belt line, either. The roof carries roughly the same shape, and will probably fold in a similar Z-pattern to the current canvas top.

Jamaican bobsled team pushes a Mini around town to keep Olympic dream alive

PETERBOROUGH, England — The Jamaican bobsleigh team is used to training without snow, but the coronavirus lockdown has seen its male athletes resort to pushing a car around the streets of an English city to stay in shape, with an eye on Olympic qualification. Some residents of Peterborough have offered their help to Shanwayne Stephens and Nimroy Turgott as they push a Mini down the road, before realizing it is part of a new training regime to work around the closure of gyms in England. "We had to come up with our own ways of replicating the sort of pushing we need to do. So that's why we thought: why not go out and push the car?" Stephens, 29, told Reuters. "We do get some funny looks. We've had people run over, thinking the car's broken down, trying to help us bump-start the car. When we tell them we're the Jamaica bobsleigh team, the direction is totally different, and they're very excited." The couple said they had been inspired by the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics men's bobsleigh team, immortalized in the 1993 film "Cool Runnings." But they said they aimed to qualify for the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022 and then outperform the 1988 team, who did not officially finish the four-man bob competition after crashing. "Those guys set a legacy, and a movie came out of it. For me personally, I want to surpass that level, and even go beyond that," Turgott, 27, said. Turgott, who normally lives in Jamaica, has been staying with Stephens since January, and the pair had always planned to do summer training in Britain, albeit in gyms rather than on roads. "If you're able to do the same sort of training without the same equipment, then you should be able to achieve more with the right equipment," he said. The pair are focused on qualifying for Beijing 2022. While the woman's team competed for the first time in 2018 in Pyeongchang, South Korea, the men's team failed to qualify. "The last Olympics, we missed it by one slot. And now we are using that experience as our motivation moving forward," Turgott said.   Weird Car News MINI