Being the 50th Anniversary of MINI means they’re unveiling two new concept cars on the public at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show. Dubbed the “Oxford Twins,” the Coupe and Roadster Concept cars made an impression at the show today.

I’ll be honest with you…the press release MINI sent out today regarding these cars was 58 pages long; I’m not joking. I’m not going to read the whole thing like I do most of these releases, but I have the important stuff regarding the Coupe and Roadster… Continue Reading…

Hey, it looks like MINI is actually going through with this whole “coupe” version of its MINI Copper hatchback – or at least they’re rolling out a concept of the neat looking little guy at the Frankfurt show this September. Good timing too, since this is MINI’s (although, that would be the not all caps, old school Mini’s) 50th anniversary today, August 26th.

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So BMW, makers of the new MINI, just announced that they’ve rolled out the 1.5 millionth of the little guys. Damn, that’s a lot in a short time, and I guess that confirms that the MINI is a certifiable hit (as well as being certifiably fun to drive). What makes the MINI the car of choice for a million and a half people? Read on …

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So, GM’s now owned by us, Chrysler will soon be owned by FIAT and us, Pontiac is gone, Saturn has been sold off to Roger Penske Hummer is sold to the Chinese, not a good time to be in the car business it world seem. Unless you’re MINI. BMWs re-tooled and re-imagined version of the venerable British hatchback is still selling like hot cakes, and doing so well, that BMW is planning on adding more dealerships.

In a certain way, it makes sense. MINIs are good cars. They’re well screwed together, handle very well, are versatile and, most importantly in these turbulent economic times, cheap to buy and cheap to operate. They don’t burn much gas, which is good with fuel prices rising, and less gas also means less pollution, which means a MINI will appeal to the hybrid crowd.

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It looks like BMW was serious about not only building an electric version of its MINI (all caps, and boy is that lame), but they’re also serious about actually selling the things. Not that there’s anything wrong with these ideas at all, just ask Peter Trepp of Pacific Palisades California, because he’s the first guy in the country to get one.

Other MINI customers in Los Angeles, New York and New Jersey will take delivery of MINI Es by the end of June, but Peter Trepp is the lucky #1 when it comes to this car.

So what sort of person do you think would be the kind of guy that would jump through all the various hoops to actually get a MINI E (and you know that getting one of these quiet little runabouts wasn’t like going to the store to pick up a loaf of bread)? Continue Reading…

An oddity caught my eye while working on yesterday’s BMW M post. The face seemed familiar, and I just caught the name: Paul Weller. “Wait – Paul Weller on a BMW press release? That can’t be THE Paul Weller. Paul Weller from The Jam? What the hell does he have to do with BMW? Wait, the MINI?”

And indeed it IS Paul Weller, and, of course, he has something to do with the MINI.

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