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Mini marks International Women's Day with Pat Moss Edition

Mini is celebrating International Women's Day with a new Pat Moss Edition package for the 2023 Mini Cooper. Moss was the first driver to win an international rally behind the wheel of a car wearing the Mini badge when she took first place in the Tulip Rally — from Noordwijk in the Netherlands to the French Riviera and back again — in 1962.  "This special edition not only commemorates the launch of MINIÂ’s extraordinary sporting career, but it also marks a pioneering achievement for women in motorsports," Mini said in its announcement. "Success in the Netherlands turned the classic Mini, Pat Moss and her co-driver Ann Wisdom into enduring heroines in a discipline otherwise dominated by both significantly larger vehicles, and male driving teams." Moss was the sister of Stirling Moss; she died in 2008. This appearance package includes Pat Moss signature decals on the front bumper (where Moss originally signed the car after one of its rally victories) and dash, stylized tulips integrated into the side markers, sill plates, steering wheel and wheel center caps, a fender decal detailing the Tulip Rally course and a decal on the hood commemorating the original rally victor's registration number.  To the left of the wheel, there's another decal on the dash which might at first appear to be a stylized picket fence, but it's actually meant to look like pistons moving up and down, arranged to look like the letters "M" and "W" for "Moss" and "Wisdom."  Globally, Mini will offer the Pat Moss Edition on the Cooper S Hardtop 2-door, a Cooper S Hardtop 4-door, and a John Cooper Works Hardtop, but only the JCW will be an option for U.S. customers. Pricing will be available closer to launch, we're told, but the Pat Moss edition is limited to just 800 units worldwide and given that it's based on the JCW's existing Iconic trim, which starts at about $40,000, it won't be cheap.  Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Longer, wider, still a Mini | 2017 Mini Countryman First Drive

Think of the 2017 Mini Countryman as the brand's "ah, to hell with it" moment. At a whopping 8.1 inches longer and 5.4 inches wider than the vehicle it replaces, it is quite obviously the least-mini Mini ever. Yet, that size increase makes it more useful, comfortable riding, and better proportioned. If a compact crossover SUV is what's to be, then this is the size it should be. However, it's still quite mini for a compact SUV, coming in at 3 inches shorter than the Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class and 4 inches shorter than an Audi Q3. Neither of those are what anyone would describe as "large." And yet, the Countryman boasts a considerably more spacious and usable interior than either of them. Sit in the new Countryman's back seat and you'll be amazed at the space, with plenty of leg- and headroom for even tall people despite a standard panoramic sunroof. Crossovers of similar exterior dimensions, luxury or otherwise, just don't come close to providing as much passenger space. The cargo area isn't quite as impressive on paper, but its boxy shape and the sliding second-row seat make it far more versatile in practice. So, despite being the least-mini Mini ever, the new Countryman is still in keeping with the brand's ethos from the very beginning when Alec Issigonis created a car that was microscopic on the outside but disproportionately spacious inside. There's far more to this redesign than just dimensional changes – the 2017 Countryman grows up figuratively as well. The original model always felt like a Mini Cooper hardtop that ballooned in size and door count. Compared to SUVs of similar price, and more damningly of lesser price, it was crashy, loud, a bit cheap inside, and relatively uncouth. The base model was also embarrassingly slow. The new version feels more like a proper compact luxury SUV flavored with a robust Salt Bae of Mini spice. Actually, that's pretty much what it is. The Countryman now shares its front-wheel-drive platform with the new BMW X1, which itself benefits from various trickle-down elements from elsewhere in the BMW Group. For instance, processes developed for the 7 Series are in part responsible for the new, stiffer structure that contributes greatly to the 2017 Countryman's other great advancement: the exponentially better ride. The old one harshly crashed over bumps in a way that only Fred Flintstone wouldn't find tiresome.

Mini considering sports car replacement for Coupe and Roadster?

The next-generation Mini lineup could see some big changes, according to a report from Australian site CarSales. Starting with the debut of the third-generation Mini Hardtop at this year's Los Angeles Auto Show, we could see a regular string of Minis on the stages of the world. But the bodystyles we see might not be what we've grown used to.
A four-door sedan could eventually arrive, while the polarizing Mini Coupe and Roadster are likely to be replaced by a dedicated sports car with unique sheetmetal and uprated engines. While the rest of the line is switching to three-cylinder, turbocharged engines, the new sports car, which will be available in both soft- and hardtop variants, will use some version of BMW's 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder. The Aussie site also claims that the interior treatment could take inspiration from the Mini Vision concept car, while showing off the know-how BMW gained when working carbon fiber into the i3. The new model(s) would likely arrive in late 2015 or early 2016.
According to CarSales, we'll see the three-door Hardtop at the 2013 LA Show, along with a five-door hatch that is different from the Clubman at the 2014 Paris show. The Clubman, meanwhile, will arrive in Geneva in 2015, while the Convertible is slated for later that same year. The current Countryman and Paceman are expected to be around for some time, before being joined by an MPV. Eventually, the larger Minis will share their architecture with the BMW X1.