cooper

Silverstone Classic 2009: Upside Down on the Track

Toward the end of last week, I previewed the final race of the 2009 Classic Endurance Racing season that took place this last weekend at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire, England. I was hoping to find some footage from the actual race that featured victor Bobby Rahal in his Lola BDG, but to my surprise there was no such video on the web. Sigh.

So I began tooling around Silverstone Circuit's official website to see what motorsport events they hold at this historic track. Through my web surfing, I came across what it is known as the … Read more

Mini Coupe concept headed to production

Remember that cute little Mini Coupe concept that was announced a few days ago? Neither do I, but perhaps you should take a second look because according to Chairman of the Board of Management, BMW AG, Dr. Norbert Reithofer, will be putting the Cooper Coupe into production at the Mini Plant in Oxford, alongside one other new model.

Specifically, the two new models will be based on the Mini Coupe concept and a concept that will be unveiled at the Frankfurt auto show.Details of the second model have not yet been announced.

Place your bets on whether the second … Read more

Mini unveils coupe concept before Frankfurt

Mini has unveiled details and photos of a Mini Coupe Concept, set to debut at the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show. The Coupe builds on the Cooper platform (confusing, isn't it?), but ditches the useless rear seats in favor of a sloping roofline and a coupe's profile.

The Coupe is identical to the Cooper S from the B-pillars forward and under the hood is the 1.6-liter turbocharged heart that we've come to love in the high performance John Cooper Works Mini. Out back the Coupe's new look includes a spoiler edge on the classic floating white … Read more

MINI to donate Beatles' inspired car to charity

Sometimes its better to give than to receive.

To celebrate its 50th birthday, MINI revisited its younger years and created a Beatles' inspired MINI that will be donated to charity later.

This one-off 2009 MINI Cooper S is based on the 1966 model given to Beatles' guitarist George Harrison, who customized his car with yantras and Sanskrit mantras. The psychedelic car was later featured in The Beatles' film Magical Mystery Tour.

The reinterpreted MINI Cooper S was designed according to the wishes of Olivia Harrison, and she will accept the donation on behalf of Material World Charitable Foundation at MINI … Read more

2009 Mini John Cooper Works at the track

The standard Mini Cooper S is a quirky and fun little coupe, but what happens when you add more power and upgrade nearly every performance part, from the brakes to the clutch? What you get is the high-performing 2009 MINI John Cooper Works hardtop.

Starting under the hood, the Cooper S's 1.6-liter turbocharged engine is massaged for an additional 32-horsepower with a combination of tuning and the addition of a John Cooper Works sport exhaust. This brings the John Cooper Works' (JCW) final tally to 208 ponies and 192 pound-feet of twist. Not bad for a tiny coupe, … Read more

It's Coop's -30- column: Adios, sorta

It's a stylistic flourish that dates back to the days when reporters would file stories they typed out on typewriters. (Quick show of hands: How many of you still know how to change typewriter ribbons? OK, how many of you worked with typewriters in the first place? Never mind.)

Within the journalism profession, it's become a tradition to label your farewell piece as the -30- column. Explanations vary. The one that I most like equates the number with a "sign of completion."

That's a nice poetic approach, though it's only nine years since I … Read more

The Italian Job Revisited

For the final installment of this week's tribute to the Mini Cooper, I've found a cool little vid featuring the famous car chase scene from The Italian Job.

Most people's familiarity with the Mini Cooper comes from Peter Collinson's classic film The Italian Job...no, not the crappy remake starring Marky Mark, I'm talking about the 1969 original starring Michael Caine and a great car chase scene featuring more Minis in one place than I've ever seen in real life. Dig the Quincy Jones soundtrack...a true blast from the past baby!

The Mini Electric

In these supposedly more enlightened times, everyone wants to "go green" or be more "eco-friendly". Our hippie-minded friends at Livinggreenchannel.com have produced a video informing eco-minded drivers of a cool way to help the environment - the fully electric Mini Cooper E.

As is noted in the video, BMW has produced 500 electric Mini Coopers that will be available to Californians in 2009 based on the success of the 2008 electric Mini models that were produced. As if they weren't small enough before, the Mini Cooper E has no back seats as the extra … Read more

The Cooper Mini through the years

For Day 3 of my Cooper Mini tribute, I found a sweet little video that contains images and history of the Mini throughout the years, and I thought it was very pleasant viewing to share with all of you. It details most of the makes and models throughout the years including its earliest models in the late 1950s and early 1960s. All the acclaims and years of staying power are quite impressive...hope you enjoy!

Ashton outmaneuvers CNN to 1 million on Twitter

This had to be one of the weirdest pieces of media I've ever seen: watching actor Ashton Kutcher, streaming live on the Web, and Anderson Cooper, broadcasting live on CNN, each pimping their Twitter accounts, trying to exhort the world to help them become the first to reach 1 million followers.

As Kutcher--as well as a host of guests at what I presume was his and wife Demi Moore's house, and even P. Diddy, who was on speakerphone at the house--put it, this was a battle between old-guard TV and newer-kid-on-the-block Web.

In the end, the battle to … Read more