by Damon Lavrinc

Early last year, while sitting in the passenger seat of cab on the Las Vegas strip, I caught a brief glimpse of a mutant MINI in the adjacent lane. The ‘lil hatch had undergone serious suspension surgery, having been jacked up a few inches and then outfitted with a set of aftermarket wheels, wrapped in knobby rubber. While enduring both the cab ride over and a performance of “O”, daydreams of the owner relentlessly flogging the MINI, far away from the neon halo of Sin City, bounced around in my mind.

The idea of an off-roading MINI was a novelty then, but back in November, AutoExpress caught wind of a rumor that BMW was currently developing some manner of all-wheel-drive system to fit within the tight confines of their retro-hatch.

Now, Gabe over at MotoringFile has revealed that such a beast is under development and is being referred to internally as the Colorado.

This next spin-off of the brand will likely be based off an SUV version of the 1-series and may be manufactured at BMW’s highly flexible Spartanburg, SC plant or Magna Steyr, since BMW’s other production centers are at capacity.

Although the MINI faithful will surely view this as a dilution of the marque, if the Colorado can combine some light off-road capabilities, while still maintaining the MINI’s iconic chuckability, we’re all for it.

[Source: Motoring File]

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by Frank Filipponio

Fifth Gear recently took advantage of having a MINI GP to run their own mini GP. That is a race between a MINI GP and the fastest tiny vehicle they could find that might be a real challenge to the MINI. After thinking through the list of would be competitors for this 218 hp, lightened and stiffened MINI, they landed on the perfect match; an R/C car. Seriously. They found Andy Moore who happens to be an R/C touring car champion. They pitted Vicki and him against each other on a full size track. You won’t believe the outcome. Click through to see the video for yourself.

[Source: Fifth Gear via TechEBlog]

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Posted Oct 28th 2006 8:41PM by Damon Lavrinc

The man from our favorite kind of road received the new MINI’s pricing from a Deep Throat within the automaker. The pricing is printed below, but the short-and-sweet version is simple: a $700 increase on the Cooper and a $400 increase on ‘S’ models. That’s not entirely out of line, considering the upgraded interior and extra performance of the new model.

Current Cooper (2006) – Base MSRP: $17,450 + $550 D&H = $18,000
New Cooper (2007) –Base MSRP: $18,050 + $650 D&H = $18,700

Current Cooper S (2006) –Base MSRP: $20,900 + $550 D&H = $21,450
New Cooper S (2007) –Base MSRP: $21,200 + $650 D&H = $21,850

No word yet on how much the JCW package will set you back, but don’t expect it before 2008. You’ll probably see a press release soon.

[Source: Winding Road]

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