In the new Mini line-up, I have always lusted
after a cabriolet. Sure, I had the best looking one in the Clubman, but a
cabriolet for my wife would be perfect. There was a problem with this though
since she had at the time a Mercedes A Class, which was extremely practical. To
be honest, it was more spacious than my Clubman, and with the four-door design
it really provided us with something that we regularly needed. So, changing her
A-Class for a Mini Cabriolet wouldn’t work out…
The stunning Cabriolet
Looking at the Countryman...
…Unless I would change my Clubman to something
bigger! Since the four years that I had the Clubman, Mini had now brought out a
bigger car: the Countryman. This is a proper four-door mini which can also be
had with 4-wheel drive, something that I was growing interested in for when I go
skiing. The problem was that when I had started looking at the Countryman I
really didn’t like it. It was not a Mini! That was when it hit me that I needed
to stop considering as a failed Mini, and instead see it for what it really is,
a really cool tiny SUV. For sure it has a number of design cues that reminds
you of the mini, and inside it also comes with the huge central speedometer and
cool switches etc. Furthermore, when you actually get around to driving it, you
realize that it even drives like a Mini in spite of being bigger. With the 4x4
transmission, and the powerful Cooper S engine it becomes a hoot to drive!
Seriously! The traction is amazing, providing a feel a bit more like a
rear-wheel drive when cornering, yet it has the stability of a 4x4. I always
thought the standard Minis with the Cooper S engine would be a bit of a handful
through corners as the front-wheel drive would pull straight, but here the
setup made a huge difference. Seriously, they should build a 4x4 Clubman Cooper
S some day…
Surf Blue is nice!
Well, with the realization that the Countryman
was actually a pretty cool car, we decided to change both of our current cars.
So, we ended up getting a beautiful ice blue Mini Cooper Cabriolet together
with a surf blue Mini Cooper S Countryman. These are our current Minis, and as
much as I love them, it is not impossible that there will be others in the
future. There is already a new version of the Mini that has come out that comes
with a number of improvements particularly to the interior. The cabriolet version
of this one should be out in a couple of years, and maybe they will end up
making an all-wheel drive Clubman some day too..
The current collection
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