When BMW sold off loss making Rover in 2000 they kept the Mini brand for themselves (or MINI as BMW prefer to spell it!), splitting it off from Rover and MG. They also kept the rights to several old British brand names such as Riley, Austin-Healy, and so on, but there are no plans to resurrect these marques at present. Land Rover was the only other part they wanted to keep, but to cover the cost of off-loading Rover-MG they had to sell the 4x4 maker to Ford.
Consequently, even though it is built in Britain, the new MINI is more a German car than a British one. Personally I love the styling of the new Mini (a much nicer version of retro styling than the new Beetle) and to date (2004) it has proven to be a huge sales success for BMW. It is also great fun to drive and a good handler, thanks to a sophisticated suspension system. All 3 versions in the range have a 1.6 litre four cylinder engine built in a Brazilian factory joint owned by Chrysler. The basic MINI One has a detuned version, while the standard Cooper packs 115bhp under it's bonnet. The range topping Cooper S has a supercharged version with 163bhp. All are quick to a degree (especially the Cooper S!) as the car is very light. From 2004 onwards, the Cooper S has been uprated and has even more power. A diesel engined MINI is also available.
As with the exterior, the interior styling apes the original Mini with it's centrally mounted speedometer. Apparently the seats are a weak point (road tests I've read said they are not comfortable over a long run), but otherwise it is a nice place to be!
Welly make this model of the Cooper version of the new MINI, and this particular model was sent to me free by the Welly company for me to review it (which was very nice of them I have to say!). It is one of the cheaper MINI models on sale at the moment (the AUTOart and Kyosho new MINI's would be the most expensive at the moment and in fact cost approximately two and a half times what this Welly costs). Compared to the AUTOart and Kyosho new MINIs this model by Welly looks alright from a distance, but close up it is easy to see why it costs alot less! The paint finish on the bonnet is poor and shows an "orange peel" effect. The interior is pretty spartan with no carpeting and rubber seatbelts, and the engine detail is poor. The wheels look ok, but there is almost no brake detail. If it had better wheels and brake discs with calipers (say for instance moulded as one piece items to save on price but still give the impression of a normal disc brake set up) then I think it would get a higher mark.
