Specifications
STORY
The modern Mini Cooper is the direct successor to Issigonis's Mini of 1959 and John Cooper's performance cars. BMW relaunched the marque in 2001 with the three-door hatch (internally R50), designed by Frank Stephenson to recall the original two-door car while using an all-new front-wheel-drive platform. The supercharged R53 Cooper S brought back the performance name. John Cooper Works, the tuning business of John Cooper's son Michael, soon added factory tuning kits and later full JCW models.
The car was completely re-engineered for the 2007 R56 generation, which used the turbocharged BMW/PSA 'Prince' engine family, and again for the 2014 F56, which grew in every dimension and widened the range. The JCW cars at the top of the range have carried the Monte Carlo spirit forward, combining go-kart handling with turbocharged pace. More recently the name has also moved toward electrification alongside the combustion hatch.