It’s one week until Rally Sweden and Autosport brings word that the BMW Group is expected to terminate its contract with Prodrive later today. This news brings the future of the MINI WRC program into question. A BMW Group source has allegedly revealed, “There was a chance this might have happened last year, but in [...]
MINI are masters of marketing, they’ve come up with some of the best and riskiest ad campaigns in the 10+ years since BMW relaunched the brand. However, their latest stunt, to name a cold weather front ‘Cooper’, has gone horribly wrong following more than 100 deaths as a result of the storm. The majority of [...]
Car has come up trumps again with new model info, this time concerning the third-generation F56 MINI. They say the current second-gen R5x lineage will end next year with the launch of the Paceman and the F56 rollout will begin shortly thereafter. First of the new generation models to roll off the production line will [...]
“Jeeves, bring the MINI round the front would you – there’s a good fellow!” Believe it or not they are the words MINI Australia are using to open their press statement on the MINI inspired by Goodwood. Only 1000 MINI Goodwoods will be made and only 10 are coming to Australia. The model was first [...]
The MINI Baker Street and MINI Bayswater are the two latest special editions from the niche manufacturer. They will go on sale around the world for a limited time and will arrive in Australia from May. BMW is the official automotive sponsor for the 2012 Olympic Games and these two London-inspired models have been announced [...]
The pint-sized MINI Rocketman, which debuted in concept form at last year’s Geneva Motor Show, will not go into final production, Car reports. At around 300mm shorter than the current R56 MINI hatch, the Rocketman would need to undergo a stringent program to offer stable handling, stability and crash performance. It was previously understood to [...]
MINI Australia today finalised the list pricing for its Coupé and Roadster ‘twins’ that will be in local showrooms towards the end of next month. Offered in only Cooper S and John Cooper Works models at launch the 135kW Roadster Cooper S is priced from $45,100, while the 155kW JCW starts at $55,100. Pricing for [...]
The Monte Carlo Rally, fondly referred to as ‘The Monte’, is resuming its rightful and traditional position as the first WRC event of the year. Yesterday the top WRC teams were out in Valence giving their machines a final shakedown before taking on the full rally. You can read previews from Citroën, Ford, MINI and [...]
After something of a false start when they missed the registration deadline for the 2012 WRC season, MINI will be ready to field two cars at this week’s Monte Carlo Rally (17–22 January). There’s no good news for Kris Meeke, though, who will miss the first two races, at least, to cashed up drivers able [...]
It’s now official, Stephane Peterhansel has won the 2012 Dakar rally for the X-raid team driving a MINI All4. He enjoyed a comfortable 42 minute margin over his X-raid temmate Nani Roma. It’s the tenth win for the 46-year-old Frenchman who won his first Dakar way back in 1991 in the motorcycle class on a [...]
The MINI All4 X-raid team is set to cap off a dominant two weeks in South America by handing Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel his tenth Dakar victory (three wins in cars, six on bikes). The start of the final stage, with only 29 timed kilometres, is not too far away and Peterhansel currently enjoys a lead [...]
MINI WRC driver pairing of Kris Meeke (pictured left) and his co-driver Paul Nagle have been dropped, Autocar reports. At this stage the shock decision has not been officially confirmed and Prodrive chairman Dave Richards has been unavailable for comment. It’s understood MINI and Prodrive have struggled to find enough sponsorship to keep Meeke/Nagle in [...]
MINI has missed the deadline for official entry into the 2012 WRC series, Autosport reports. It’s not immediately clear who is to blame for the oversight, but it seems to be the Munich side of the BMW–Prodrive relationship. As you would expect both parties are now desperately trying to come to a new agreement with [...]
MINI and Prodrive returned to the world rally stage with their Countryman WRC this year. In a staged re-introduction to the sport they took part in only six of the 13 events. Dani Sordo still managed to make quite an impact, with a third place finish in Germany and coming within 6.3 seconds of a [...]
It’s official, MINI will make a JCW Countryman. The image above shows a prototype undergoing winter testing in Austria. The word is the JCW Countryman will offer a more tailored suspension tune, including a 10mm drop in ride height and an increase in power beyond the usual 210hp (155kW) we’ve come to expect from the [...]