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Mini 60 Years Edition celebrates six decades since the original hit the streets

The original Mini launched in 1959, making this year the car's 60th anniversary. To celebrate, Mini is offering a special Mini 60 Years Edition car for the 2019 model year. Mini did a pretty awesome photo shoot for this limited-edition car, showing us how big the Mini is now compared to what it used to be in 1959. That might not have been the point, but man is it interesting to see the two chugging along next to each other. You can order the 60 Years Edition with either the three-door or five-door Mini — the larger Clubman and Countryman will not be getting this treatment. As for the changes from Mini, it's mostly aesthetic. The standard color is a British racing green, but you could choose among four other non-green colors, too. Mini will paint the roof either white or black, and the same goes for the exterior mirror caps. Plenty of stripes are already available for Minis, but this special edition has unique hood stripes — the 60 Years logo appears on just the left-hand hood stripe. That's just the beginning when it comes to anniversary stickers and logos. You'll see the designation on the door sills, interior trim, front headrests, steering wheel, and the logo is even projected onto the ground by LED light upon opening the door. Mini 60 Years Edition View 33 Photos A bunch of equipment is made standard in these 60 Year cars for a bit more luxury. Full LED lighting front and back comes with all of them. The interior trim is done in an exclusive dark maroon color — the sports seats and leather steering wheel will also be standard equipment. In the U.S. you'll be able to get either the normal Cooper or the Cooper S with this special edition package. This means either the 1.5-liter turbo or 2.0-liter turbo will be up for grabs with your 60 Years Edition Mini. These particular cars will be available in March this year, but Mini doesn't spell out pricing nor production numbers for them. Since the changes aren't necessarily drastic, we wouldn't expect an unruly price, but expect to pony up a bit more for the privilege of owning one of these. Related video: Featured Gallery Mini 60 Years Edition and original Mini View 58 Photos MINI Hatchback

2020 Mini Countryman Review & Buying Guide | The big Mini is still fun

The 2020 Mini Countryman manages to keep most of the fun character of the regular Mini Hardtop, but with the practicality and style of a small crossover. How small, though? It's definitely among what we'd classify as subcompact models, but given its level of engineering, interior quality and, perhaps most obviously, its price, the Countryman fits well above mainstream models like the Hyundai Kona or Kia Soul, but doesn't quite reach the luxury rungs where the Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class, BMW X1, and the Audi Q3 reside. Given that in-betweener status and its quirky design aesthetic, the Countryman is bit hard to classify or stack up with competitors on an apples to apples basis. Best to think of it as an alternative, then, and focus on the things it does well. Most of all, it’s one of the best handling, and most fun-to-drive subcompact crossovers on the market – luxury or otherwise. It can be had with a number of peppy turbo engines, including a certified hot hatchback-grade 301-horsepower engine for the John Cooper Works. It also has a roomy interior with solid quality and characterful details. And although it's very expensive when compared to the Souls of the world, with a base price of just under $30,000, it starts at thousands less than those luxury models. So it may be tough to classify, but it's still worth a look.  What's new for 2020? Two of the more niche Countryman models see significant updates. The John Cooper Works model gets the aforementioned new turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder making 301 horsepower and 332 pound-feet of torque. The Cooper SE Countryman plug-in hybrid gets longer electric range, going from 12 miles to 18 miles thanks to a higher capacity 9.6-kWh battery. Fuel economy with a drained battery also rises from 27 mpg to 29. On other Mini Countryman models, the manual transmission has been dropped altogether, leaving two different automatic transmission choices. What's the Countryman's interior and in-car technology like? The Mini Countryman has a cabin with as much whimsy as you would expect for the brand. Though the speedometer has long since moved to the steering column, the dash continues to have a giant center circular motif as a tribute to past models. Vents, door handles and more have funky shapes, and Mini employs a wide array of plastics of different grains and colors to keep things interesting and looking premium, even if the plastics themselves feel average to the touch.

BMW's DTM champ swaps rides with Mini's Dakar winner

BMW may not race in F1 any longer, and it doesn't compete with Audi and Porsche in the LMP1 class at Le Mans. It even shut down Mini's short-lived effort on the World Rally Championship. But that doesn't mean it doesn't race at all. In fact it's the current reigning champion both in DTM and at Dakar. So to highlight its varied motorsport programs, the German automaker had two of its top drivers swap rides. German driver Martin Tomczyk, who won the DTM title in 2011 and now drives for BMW, took to Nasser Al-Attiyah's Mini All4Racing Countryman on the sand dunes of Dubai. Meanwhile the Qatari driver, who has won the Dakar Rally two times now, took to the wheel of Tomczyk's BMW M4 DTM around Oschersleben in Germany. They even repeated the game of musical chairs at Hockenheim over the weekend. If anything, the promo clip shot by Red Bull just goes to show how different the varied racing machinery can be, and the challenges posed to racing drivers switching between disciplines. But lessons aside, it's a cool clip, so check it out above. Two champions swap cockpits: Martin Tomczyk drives the MINI ALL4 Racing, Nasser Al-Attiyah the BMW M4 DTM. Munich (DE), 1st May 2015. From asphalt to sand and back again: BMW DTM driver Martin Tomczyk (DE) and MINI ALL4 Racing ace Nasser Al-Attiyah (QA) both entered unfamiliar territory and took each other's cars for a test drive. As part of a video shoot for BMW Motorsport Premium Partner Red Bull in Dubai (AE), Tomczyk, a proven master of his trade on asphalt as the 2011 DTM Champion, took the wheel of the MINI ALL4 Racing, with which X-raid has won the famous Rally Dakar the last four years. During DTM testing in Oschersleben (DE), Al-Attiyah was given the opportunity to drive Tomczyk's BMW M Performance Parts M4 DTM. Two wins at the Rally Dakar are just some of the successes the rally driver from Qatar has had to date. He followed up his first victory in 2011 by winning in the MINI ALL4 Racing in January 2015. "Driving the MINI ALL4 Racing through the sand and over the dunes in Dubai was a fascinating experience and was so much fun," said Tomczyk. "The car has an incredible amount of torwue – and the test in the dunes was an amazing adrenalin rush even for an experienced race driver such as myself. It's totally different to driving on a circuit.