2021 Mini Cooper S on 2040-cars

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Mini ditches four-seat Countryman

Mini is walking away from the rear bucket seats in its Countryman crossover. MotoringFile.com reports that starting in 2013, the CUV will no longer offer just two seats in the second row. Originally, Mini was forced to offer the buckets due to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration rules governing the the minimum vehicle width for the allowance of three-wide seating. That rule was recently changed, which allowed Mini to offer the bench seat. Not surprisingly, few buyers have opted for the awkward bucket-and-rail configuration since. Moving forward, all Countryman models will also come with the vehicle's flat-load rear floor as well.
During our time with our long-term Countryman, we found the middle rail between the two buckets to be a bit gimmicky, especially given the fact that the cup holders were only large enough to accommodate a 12-ounce can.

2020 Mini John Cooper Works GP is priced from $45,750

Mini hasn’t even given us all the details for the upcoming John Cooper Works GP, but it already has a price. Set to debut at this month's L.A. Auto Show, the GP will start at $45,750. The last GP-badged Mini sold for $39,950, so this mid-$40,000 price point isnÂ’t out of the ordinary or unexpected. However, itÂ’s still pretty nuts considering the competition. Mini previously told us the GP will have “over 300 horsepower” and go around the Nurburgring in less than 8 minutes. Global production is also limited to 3,000 total cars, but itÂ’s not clear how many of those will be coming stateside.  Mini John Cooper Works GP View 30 Photos A regular 2020 John Cooper Works Hardtop starts at $34,250, but itÂ’s making do with considerably less horsepower at 231 ponies. A Civic Type R retails for $37,230. A Golf R is $41,290 and the WRX STI costs $37,895. WeÂ’ll note that Mini hasnÂ’t said how much standard equipment is included with the $45,750 asking price, so it could get much more expensive from there — Mini will surely let you go nuts with the configurator. That said, we can hope the high asking price does include an array of niceties you'd have to pay for on higher trims of the JCW Hardtop. When it launches later this November, Mini has already promised it will be the fastest car itÂ’s ever produced. WeÂ’re excited to see the extreme Mini take to the streets in mid-2020, as the GP models in the past have always provided us with a gloriously fun driving experience.

Top Gear caught filming Best of British near Buckingham Palace

YouTuber and car-fan extraordinaire Shmee probably had very little trouble tracking down the Top Gear film crew recently, as the group was putting together an episode that could accurately be described as "excessive." With its flag-waving (literally) Best of British theme, the TG guys gathered a jaw-dropping array of British cars, and parked them all right in front of Buckingham Palace to make extra sure that the point was driven home.
Top Gear hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May were outfitted with a trio of Jaguar F-Types festooned with gigantic Union Jacks, with which to survey the landscape of British motoring glory. In the video below, you'll see that this includes any number of Mini, Aston Martin, Lotus, McLaren, Land Rover, Bentley and Rolls-Royce models (just to name a few), as well as a healthy dose of weird stuff that most people would never guess at being built in the UK. The lawnmowers and military vehicles are especially cool.