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The excellent love:mini blog is reporting that MiniWorld magazine is on the verge of being sold by publishers IPC.  As part of this process, long-time editor Monty Watkins (below left) has resigned.  Monty has been a very visible figure on the MINI scene since the mid-1990’s.   Primarily an enthusiast for the Classic MINI, Monty has in recent years become a prime mover in bringing brand-owner BMW closer to the MINI scene.  Under his stewardship, MiniWorld magazine has become a proud sponsor of many events and nobody has done more to promote the Classic MINI than Monty.  I have personal experience of the man when he kindly offered to take a photo of myself and my MINI next to 621 AOK at the beginning of the Heritage Run.

It seems likely that MiniWorld will be sold to Kelsey Publishing which already publishes an extensive range of niche car magazine including the excellent Modern MINI.

You can read the original love:mini article here.

On Sunday 5th September I joined my friends from P&SMOC at this year’s fantastic MINI’s by the Sea show.  Organised by the West Sussex MINI Owners Club, this event brings together MINI’s old and new in the picturesque coastal town of Worthing.  The show is free and the MINI’s are displayed in a municipal garden surrounded on three sides by luxury apartments and just across from the seafront. Ostensibly organised to benefit local charities, last year’s show raised over £4000.

With the show being held in what amounted a small local park, space was tight and each club was allocated a space barely large enough for six MINI’s.  Along the way, we’d managed to meet up with some members from SCNM and SNM.  There were some initial concerns they wouldn’t be able to get in, but they managed to net themselves a very nice little display spot!  There weren’t many dealers at the show, and it isn’t an event that takes all day to explore, but I’d certainly recommend attending next year if you can.

You can view a full gallery of photos here.

About a week ago, my MINI incurred a rather nasty dent on the A-panel just behind the front wheel-arch.  I don’t know how it happened, but I knew I needed to get it resolved as soon as possible.  I went looking for a bodyshop that could do a flawless repair and to whom I could entrust my MINI.  I was fortunate to find Car Technicks.

Collin and myself are MINI-enthusiasts not spokesmen here to shill for local businesses.  However, the company did such an amazing job it wouldn’t be fair of me to not recommend their services to anyone else with a wounded MINI!

Roberto and his team work out of a unit on Hook just off Junction 5 of the M3.  If you take a look at their website, or visit their workshop, you’ll see they are trusted on a daily basis to work on Aston Martin, Ferrari, TVR, Jaguar and Porsche.

Those of you that know me will know how much of a perfectionist I am about how my MINI looks and who is even allowed to sit in it!  If I recommend a bodyshop then you can be damn sure they are someone who will do a good job.  Visit their website at here.

Both MotoringFile and Auto Express are reporting that MINI are working on a smaller city car.  The car’s key attribute will be efficiency.  We expect the highly anticipated 1.5 liter 3 cylinder engine to make it’s MINI debut in this new interpretation of the classic MINI City.  With every ounce of technology at the disposal of MINI we expect this 3 cylinder to get around 48 mpg on the highway in the US cycle.

This MINI is just over three metres long, although there will still be space for four inside and a small boot.  Despite boasting nearly 150bhp, the new engine should be capable of achieving 50mpg and CO2 emissions of just under 110g/km thanks to BMW’s EfficientDynamics tweaks.  Expect to see stop/start, brake energy regeneration and an aerodynamic design among the changes.  A low kerbweight means acceleration should be impressive, with the sprint from 0-62mph taking just over 7 seconds.

You can read the original MotoringFile article here.
Read the Auto Express article here.

No, it’s not an apparition, I really am writing a post! One about an event that Keith didn’t go to either!

Back in April 2010 my wife suddenly announced that she’d booked a hotel and bought advanced tickets for Mini In The Park (MITP) at Santa Pod in Wellingborough.

We had been to MITP previously when it was held in Oxford but since it moved to Santa Pod we always considered that it was too far to go. Well, we were very much proven wrong! We had a great day, watching cars scream up the track (never seen that before) and wandering around the cars and trade stands. Although the trade stands are pretty much the same as any show, the visiting cars were many that we haven’t seen before. I think that the location means that it is more accessible to the Northern Mini Fraternity (who may consider that Beaulieu is too far for them).

Beautiful examples of classic and new cars:

First time I’ve actually seen these ON a Mini! The hinges alone cost £1600 a pair and apparently they are a right pain to fit!

Attention to detail on this car was stunning, we loved the Alice Cooper font for the writing.

This car is quite famous, I first saw it at London To Brighton in 2008. I love it though and apparently it was built from a written off MINI in just 5 weeks!

I really would recommend anyone to go to this show, it’s so different from all the static type shows that many go to. All the action up “the strip” and the arena displays add to the show. At just a tenner for advanced tickets I know we’ll be going back next year!

There are more photos available in the gallery for the event here

MINI has finally confirmed what was the worst-kept secret in motorsport; the MINI is to return to world-class rally competition.  MINI will contest selected rounds of the 2011 World Rally Championship, marking the return of one of the sport’s most famous competitors.  The new Countryman will form the basis of MINI’s rallying comeback, the four-wheel drive car being developed and run by the experts at Prodrive. It will be powered by a 1.6-litre turbocharged engine from BMW Motorsport and comply with Super2000 regulations.

“This is a very exciting new motorsport programme,” said Prodrive chairman David Richards. “During the 1960s MINI captured the imagination of the world when the tiny car took on the might of V8 powered Fords and won what was then one of the toughest motorsport events; the Monte Carlo rally. I believe our new MINI will become a firm favourite of the latest generation of rally fans, just as it is adored by its millions of owners across the world.”

Simon Long is CEO of North One Sport, the company in charge of promoting the WRC.  “Obviously it’s great to see the return of the iconic MINI, a car with such a strong rallying pedigree, but it also means that with MINI, Ford and Citroen, the WRC is supported by three of the most exciting brands in the global car market.”

You can read the full Daily Telegraph article here.

On Sunday 18th July I had the good fortune to join Surrey New MINI on their organised run to see the MINI racing at Castle Combe racetrack.  As happened last year, local MINI dealer Wellsway MINI really rolled out the red carpet and arranged for a huge convoy to rendezvous in Bath before proceeding to the track.

The fun didn’t end when we reached the track.  Wellsway had arranged for a dedicated MINI parking area and VIP hospitality throughout the day.  To top everything off, Modern MINI magazine were also on hand to cover the whole day in depth.

As you would expect from the MINI Sevens and MINI Challenge series, the racing was intense, competitive and very enjoyable.  Plus we had the chance to cheer on Andrey Magily and the Lohen ‘Polar Bear’ MINI in the Dunlop Sport Maxx races.  Watch out for highlights on Motors TV beginning August 7th at 1800.

Rogan Thompson has posted a fantastic gallery of photos of the races here.
There is a an additional gallery of our day’s adventures here.

We first became aware of MINI’s intended return to rallying back in February.  Well, Autosport.com has news of an impending announcement and more details about the car!  Based on the new AWD Countryman platform, the first rally MINI for forty years has been developed by Prodrive at their Banbury base and will be formally launched in Rome at Rally d’Italia-Sardegna in May next season but several sources are strongly hinting that we will catch our first glimpse of the car in the next few days.

Prodrive has remained tight-lipped, denying that it has anything planned.  The British preparation firm has yet to even admit to any kind of agreement with MINI.  Norwegian driver Mads Ostberg is being tipped to do some of the early development driving – and to take one of the factory seats in next year’s WRC programme.  Ostberg is a long-standing customer of Prodrive and is expected to run a MINI-based team in next year’s WRC as well as driving an official car.  Ostberg has resisted the opportunity to drive any other cars in the WRC or Intercontinental Rally Challenge this season.

You can read the full Autosport.com article here.

Recently, I had the good fortune to be able to participate in the traditional Heritage Run.  Each year, a small selection of MINI’s of all ages travel in convoy to the Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon for the yearly MINI Festival.  As always, the convoy is headed up by 621 AOK; the very first MINI ever built.  This isn’t the first time I’ve attended the fantastic MINI Festival, but never before have I been one of the fortunate few to have their MINI accepted onto the prestigious Heritage Run.

This year the Heritage Run departed from MINI Plant Oxford.  Once known as Cowley, this plant was where the MINI was developed and built by Sir Alec Issigonis back in 1959.  To arrive early, and be able to park my MINI next to the world’s most famous MINI, was perhaps the highlight of the day.  Thanks to MiniWorld editor Monty Watkins I now have a photo of myself stood between both MINI’s!  Being able to have a photo taken beside 621 AOK, as Sir Alec himself had on numerous occasions, has enabled me to tick-off one of my list of lifetime ambitions!  I’m not sure the astronaut thing will ever happen…

As you would expect, MINI rolled out the red carpet for us.  The museum was opened for us to explore, photo calls were arranged and we were waved off by a suitably important VIP!  The hour-long trip through the countryside to the festival came with only one instruction; “Don’t overtake AOK!”  Upon arrival at Gaydon were were driven into the paddock one-by-one for a brief interview and then all the Heritage Run cars were parked up outside the front of the museum for the duration of the day in pride-of-place.

You can see a gallery of photos here.

The latest generation of MINI’s have been officially unveiled this week.  As you would expect from MINI, the exterior changes are minimal; when such an iconic design has been so successful for decades you don’t change anything that doesn’t need changing.  However, there is still plenty here for us to report on.

The Hatch, Convertible and Clubman have all been updated with the most obvious external change being new lower front bumpers.  As we have previously reported, these have been changed to incorporate functional air-intakes to cool the front brakes.  There are also redesigned fog lamps and a larger deformation zone will improve pedestrian protection.  The familiar MINI headlights now include an optional feature that will follow the angle of the steering wheel meaning that MINI will now literally be able to see around coners!  The rear lights are now LED and will visibly pulse if braking is applied heavily.

The interior of the latest MINI’s has also been redesigned and silver plastic has been replaced by matte black.  There are also additional upholstery and fascia options plus new interior colour lines available to trim the doors.  The integrated MINI Connect system will be available as an optional extra; integrating bluetooth, satnav, Google and Apple iPhone functionality  into the redesigned centre console.

As previously explained, both the Cooper and Cooper S will be getting new engines.  The Cooper will now have map-regulated oil pump which will help reduce fuel consumption by an average 3%.  Power will rise to 122bhp.  The Cooper S will retain the same level of fuel consumption and CO2 levels as the current model, but thanks to the new fully variable valve train power will rise to a meaty 182bhp.  These changes will also be incorporated into the next generation high-performance JCW models.

MotoringFile has an in-depth article on the new MINI’s here.