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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.

Mini's Oxford factory builds its 10 millionth car

Mini has a lot to celebrate in 2019. The original, pocket-sized city car that spawned the entire brand made its debut 60 years ago, and its historic factory in Oxford, England, made its 10 millionth vehicle in August. The zesty hatchback is already on its way to meet its biggest fans. Fittingly, the milestone car is a limited-edition 60 Years-badged model. It's based on the two-door Cooper S, so its 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine is turbocharged to 192 horsepower, and it receives several edition-specific touches like brown leather upholstery with green accents, an array of special decals and logos, plus 17-inch alloy wheels designed for the model. The 10 millionth Oxford-built car isn't destined for a life spent in a museum or in a private collection. At least not yet. It's already hit the road as part of a 61-car convoy making the 84-mile trip from the Oxford factory to Bristol to attend the International Mini Meet taking place August 11. The first Mini built, a white Morris Mini-Minor, is at the head of the pack. It's followed by an example made during every year of the model's unusually long production run. And what a run it was. There were 5.3 million examples of the original Mini made between 1959 and 2000, but not all of them were manufactured in Oxford, and none were sold under the Mini brand. Parent company BMW created Mini as we know it in late 2000 when it launched the first-generation Cooper (the car now known as the Hardtop). Its numerous predecessors were given more than a dozen names including Austin Seven, Austin Mini, Innocenti Mini, Morris 850, Riley Elf, and Rover Mini.

Mini locks out the podium at Dakar Rally

Motor racing is often overcome by dominant forces. In Formula One these days, it's all about Red Bull. Le Mans is absolutely dominated by Audi. Citroën devastated the World Rally Championship for years. And the Dakar Rally is no exception to that particular rule, either.
The Mitsubishi Pajero won the event seven years in a row and many times before that. Then Volkswagen took the lead, winning three years running with competition-spec Touaregs once the rally shifted from North Africa to South America in 2009. But these days it's Mini that dominates.
The Mini All4 Racing team won in 2012, again in 2013 and has just won it again for 2014. Not only did it win again, but it took a devastating 1-2-3 finish to lock out the podium. Over the course of 13 days, Minis won 11 out of 13 of the total stages that make up the grueling rally, at the end of which Nasser Al-Attiyah crossed the line in third, Stéphane Peterhansel finished second, and just five minutes ahead of him, Nani Roma crossed the finish line in Valparaíso in first place. (Of course it didn't hurt that there were no fewer than 11 Minis entered in this year's rally, but still.)