Talk of the Mini and ‘The Italian Job’ and Mr Bean spring to the mind. This iconic British marque, now owned by BMW of Germany, has made its way to India. We savour the attractive Convertible
THE BRITISH MOTOR COMPANY (BMC) made the Mini 53 years ago and it went on to become the second most infl uential car of the 20th century. A couple of years after its birth, John Cooper (owner of the Cooper Car Company), offered to join forces with Sir Alec Issigonis of BMC (the original designer of Mini) to make the Mini Cooper and Mini Cooper S. The result of this transformed the originally designed economical car into something that was driven by performance. Thus, the legend was born and the iconic British car went on to win its fi rst racing championship in 1962. Since then, the Mini continued to exist in two avatars – one as a cute, little, inexpensive car and the other as one of the rally-winning, performance-inspired cars.
In the 1980s and 1990s, several special editions of the Mini were introduced that gave this car its lifestyle product status. In the 1990s, Mini, as a company, was bought over by BMW and, in 2000, it was completely revamped. A new generation of the Mini was born in 2001 and since then it has been the iconic compact car winning hearts all over the world. It’s 2012 now and this Mini has made its way to India and, boy, were we delighted to drive it around!
The Mini Cooper Convertible it was and we drove it around the city with the roof down to our heart’s content before fi nally getting out to sit beside this style statement to appreciate its beauty. To be sure, in its compact proportions, the Mini Cooper Convertible looks cute yet sophisticated. With the blue canvas roof up, the low-lying roof-line gives a great look to the Mini, but with the roof retracted, it becomes even more desirable. The blue colour with white strips running on the bonnet, round headlights, horizontal-slit chrome grille and curves all around give the Mini its iconic styling.
Inside, there are more rounds than you would ever expect – the retro-styled speedometer placed at the centre of the dash, tachometer dial, air-conditioning vents, door handle housings and steering-mounted buttons. The white leather upholstery with patterns on the sides of the seats and headrests and black dashboard with a self-print on it seem to have come straight from a fashion house. The large white and black steering wheel gives the fi nal and unmistakable retro feel to the interior. Giving an excellent touch to the cabin is the ambient lighting from behind the door handle.
Under the hood of the Convertible is a 1.6-litre, naturally aspirated, four-cylinder petrol engine with variable valve management that produces 122 PS of peak power at 6,000 revolutions per minute and 160 Nm of maximum torque at 4,250 RPM. However exciting these fi gures might read, they don’t translate into that much performance on road. 0-100 km/h come in 13.4 seconds and it takes over 19 seconds to do a quarter mile run. Mated to the engine is a six-speed automatic box that isn’t all that exciting either. The simple torque-converter type tranny offers rather sluggish shifts and makes it a little irritating while driving around the town in traffi c where there is quite a lot of speed variation.
On the drive front, the Mini’s suspension feels a little on the stiff side. On smooth roads, it isn’t much cause for worry, but hit even a slightly uneven surface and the Mini gets a little rough on your spine. The steering wheel feels heavy too. All this is good for sporty driving, but living with it on an everyday basis can be a little demanding.
Talking of using the car every day, there are quite a few other issues that too might dampen your excitement over this Convertible. Firstly, though there are two rear seats, they are strictly baby seats and even kids will not fi nd enough leg space if moderately tall people are occupying the front seats. Secondly, once the roof is down, it doesn’t go inside the boot nor does it have a separate compartment to fold into and, therefore, it sits just behind the rear seats. Now this will most defi nitely block half the vision in the rear-view mirror. Thirdly, there is neither a spare wheel nor a jack in this car and it does not have run-fl ats either. Quite a diffi cult proposition, is it not?
But who really cares? The Mini Cooper Convertible is all about style, fashion, design and statement. It is an icon and an icon is owned for its charisma. This one doesn’t fail to do so. It grabs the attention of all and sundry wherever it goes. It gives you a feeling of owing a legend. It has everything that makes for a premium possession. And if the engine has failed to excite you enough, there’s something more in store. Your craving for ‘The Italian Job’ style driving around the town will surely be satisfi ed with the even more special Mini – the Mini Cooper S. Flip over to continue reading…
Story: Adhish Alawani
Photography: Sanjay Raikar
