The new MINI's exhaust tip exists because designer Frank Stephenson needed one for a board presentation in a hurry — so he punched a hole in an empty beer can. BMW loved it and told him not to change a thing.
Median 74 hp across 199 similar cars
Lead trim: Convertible · 5-spd manual · 1.6L · up to 215 hp
MINI CooperR50/R53 · 2002–2006
- 0spots by members
- Unclaimednobody has spotted one yet
- 1set it completes
Nobody in Burbles has spotted a MINI Cooper yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactThe new MINI's exhaust tip exists because designer Frank Stephenson needed one for a board presentation in a hurry — so he punched a hole in an empty beer can. BMW loved it and told him not to change a thing.
Collectors Spotted in the MINI Cooper Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the MINI Cooper yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
9 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base · 5-spd manual | 2003–2006 | 1.6 L 4-cyl | 114 hp | 110 lb-ft | — | FWD | Manual 5-spd | — |
| Base · CVT | 2002–2006 | 1.6 L 4-cyl | 114 hp | 110 lb-ft | — | FWD | Automatic (variable gear ratios) | — |
| Convertible · 5-spd manual · 1.6L | 2005–2008 | 1.6 L 4-cyl | 114 hp | 110 lb-ft | — | FWD | Manual 5-spd | — |
| Convertible · CVT · 1.6L | 2005–2008 | 1.6 L 4-cyl | 114 hp | 110 lb-ft | — | FWD | Automatic (variable gear ratios) | — |
| S Convertible · 6-spd auto · 1.6L | 2005–2015 | 1.6 L 4-cyl | 168 hp | 162 lb-ft | — | FWD | Automatic (S6) | — |
| S Convertible · 6-spd manual · 1.6L | 2005–2015 | 1.6 L 4-cyl | 168 hp | 162 lb-ft | — | FWD | Manual 6-spd | — |
| S JCWorks GP Kit | 2006–2006 | 1.6 L 4-cyl | 215 hp | 184 lb-ft | — | FWD | Manual 6-spd | — |
| S · 6-spd auto | 2005–2013 | 1.6 L 4-cyl | — | — | — | FWD | Automatic (S6) | — |
| S · 6-spd manual | 2003–2013 | 1.6 L 4-cyl | — | — | — | FWD | Manual 6-spd | — |
Owning one
An estimate, for the S Convertible · 6-spd auto · 1.6L trim: fuel on its EPA figure and a dated national price, upkeep on a per-mile average for the kind of car it is.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
From 2024 every combustion-engined Mini Cooper hatch and convertible — F65, F66 and F67 alike — is built at one plant: Oxford, where the modern Mini story started.
The electric J01 Mini Cooper, unveiled on 1 September 2023, is built in Zhangjiagang, China, by Spotlight Automotive, a joint venture of BMW Group and Great Wall Motor.
The 2020 JCW GP's 302 hp was too much for any manual gearbox MINI had — it was built automatic-only because nothing else could survive the torque.
The second-gen MINI Convertible has a built-in gadget called the 'Openometer' that does one job: counting the minutes owners actually drive with the roof down.
The new MINI's exhaust tip exists because designer Frank Stephenson needed one for a board presentation in a hurry — so he punched a hole in an empty beer can. BMW loved it and told him not to change a thing.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
Japan was a minor market for the Swift: when it passed 2 million sales in 2011, about 39% were in India and 27% in Europe, against roughly 15% at home.
To adapt the Horizon for America, Chrysler bought nearly 100 Volkswagen Rabbits purely to reverse engineer them.
The Mk3 Focus RS's AWD system could send 100 percent of engine power to the rear wheels alone — built not in Ford's home country, but at the Saarlouis plant in Germany.
In June 2003, a Mégane II became the subject of the first ever live televised crash test with a real human driver at the wheel instead of a dummy — filmed by Top Gear.
This Wagon R redesigned its rear doors specifically to kill off the D-pillar — bigger doors with built-in quarter glass solved what earlier generations needed a whole extra pillar for.
The BX was the UK's best-selling diesel car for four years from 1987, and 2,315,739 were built in all.
Six months before Suzuki retired the Fronte name for good, the CN11S's 796cc version was already being built in China under a completely different name: the Anchi 6330.
Built to use up Chrysler-Simca's parts bin, it took its engine and gearbox straight from the front-wheel-drive Simca 1100 but mounted them amidships instead.