The MINI owners with 25 million tunes choose from

IF YOU’RE the sort of motorist who can never make their mind up about what music to listen to then you might be interested in a new optional extra for the MINI.

The company has joined forces with music download gurus Deezer to make their downloadable iPhone app link up with MINI models, meaning owners can have access to up to 25 million tunes while at the wheel.

A MINI UK spokesperson said: “Using Deezer in-car is secure and intuitive using the MINI joystick, steering wheel buttons and high-resolution colour display of the on-board monitor, where functions are displayed in the familiar MINI style.

 “The addition of Deezer to the MINI Connected line-up is yet another example of MINI’s future-proof and intelligent interconnection between driver, automobile and outside world.”

 The car must be fitted with the Radio MINI Visual Boost or the MINI navigation system to be able to use the service, and you must have an iPhone to access the tunes.

The new MINI Paceman makes sense. I think

HERE’S a thought. The new MINI Paceman is the car the Countryman should have been.

For what it’s worth, I think the latest addition to the already expansive MINI range has a name that makes it sound a bit like a personal stereo for people with cardiac problems but most of Britain's motoring writers have found other things to be cruel about – it’s a worthy enough car, they reckon, but one that’s completely pointless. Why would anyone want a MINI Countryman with less room and fewer doors?

Well, I would, and here’s why.

Before I go any further I’ve got two things I ought to declare – that I owned not one, but two of the classic Minis, and that I’ve yet to actually drive the Paceman. I have, however, got behind the wheel of its closest cousin, the five door Countryman, the open-top, two-seater MINI Roadster, and a couple of different versions of the vanilla MINI hatchback estates agents up and down the land have loved more than a decade.

There’s nothing that really touches an original Mini for immediate, smile-on-your-face small car fun but I’ve always liked the new MINI because it’s frisky, good looking and packed with character (even though I’d still take a Suzuki Swift Sport over a Cooper). The Countryman though, was the exception the rule – not only is this Nissan Qashqai rival a bit weird and bloated looking, but it didn’t feel like a MINI when I drove it. To badly misquote Get Carter, it’s a big car but it’s out of shape.

The Paceman, though, is like a Countryman that’s been down to the gym to get back into shape – yes, it’s bigger than the normal MINI but it still looks the part, which if you’re in the market for a MINI is what matters. I know you only get four seats to the Countryman’s five and two fewer doors but it’s still measurably more practical than the MINI without looking like its overdone it on the Melton Mowbrays. Better to drive too, if the musings of the motoring magazines who’ve already tested it are anything to go by.

Let me put it to you this way – the MINI Clubvan is hopelessly impractical next to the similarly priced Berlingo and Kangoo vans but not one small business will care, because the Clubvan grabs eyeballs and the Gallic load-luggers don’t. Looks count for an awful lot in MINI land. The Paceman has what it takes, and the Countryman doesn’t.

So I get the point of the Paceman entirely. Just a shame about the name, really.

British Mini Club Show 2013 at Bingley Hall, Staffordshire

COLD weather and the prospect of a long drive to Staffordshire didn't put thousands of enthusiasts off attending a celebration of one of Britain's best known classics.

Clubs from across the country helped to make this year's British Mini Club Show, held at the Staffordshire County Showground, a big success, with a 1992 Italian Job special edition model being raffled off for charity on the day.

Life On Cars took these pictures at the event:

Do you have a motoring event you'd like to share with Life On Cars? Get in touch by sending an email to david.simister@hotmail.co.uk or just leave a comment below...

Wirral to Llandudno Mini Run 2013

 

WELSH car enthusiasts were in for a treat this weekend when dozens of Minis descended on the seaside of Llandudno.

Despite bitterly cold weather fans of the classic small car turned out in force for a show on the resort's promenade, many of them having made the journey from Wirral, Merseyside earlier this morning as part of an organised convoy along the A55 into North Wales.

Life On Cars - fresh from an equally chilly trip across the Welsh countryside - took these pictures in a rather frosty Llandudno:

Have you got a classic car event you'd like to promote? Get in touch with Life On Cars at david.simister@hotmail.co.uk or leave a comment below...

Cold but brilliant open air motoring

AS we headed ever higher into the mountains above Bala, the muddy green of the countryside became a chilly shade of white.

Today Life On Cars is one of its adventures over the border, with our merry gang of enthusiasts on the way to Llandudno to see the gaggle of Minis which travel to the resort on their annual run from the Wirral.

On the way however, we've ventured through the mountains on the wonderful roads which wind their way through Bala, Blaenau Ffestiniog and Betws-y-Coed, even though at a frosty two degrees it was probably  a tad too cold to have the MX-5's roof down.

 Bloody freezing but big, big fun.

 Check out Life On Cars tomorrow for a full report on the 2013 Wirral to Llandudno Mini Run

What will happen to the Mini that time forgot?

IT'S like Indiana Jones meets The Italian Job. This story is so intruiging, I thought it needed bringing out of the classic car forums and onto these pages.

It begins deep underground, in a network of tunnels beneath one of Britain's biggest car factories, the former British Leyland plant at Longbridge. For years, a rather battered old Mini has sat down there, lonely and unloved, gathering dust for decades. It's been stripped of almost all of its useful bits and the roof's been bent in like a banana, but this Clubman version, not a million miles from the Seventies Minis you see above, is quite unlike any other. The Mini which nobody wanted is the last ever Mini to leave the factory.

How did it end up down there? Well, the story goes that when this Mini was being made, it fell off the production line at the factory, and rather than repair it the Longbridge workers ran it around the factory for a few miles and took whatever bits were useful off it to use on other cars.

When it was no longer deemed useful it was bundled off into the tunnel, which had been built in the 1940s to protect the factory workers - who were busy making ammunition rather than cars for a change - from the Luftwaffe. The Clubman that never was stayed in the tunnel right through the bitterest days of British Leyland, right through Austin Rover's tenure, remained unloved when BMW took over the reins and even remained ignored when MG Rover finally went bust in 2005. It's only now that a Mini enthusiast has had the tenacity to fish it out, and it's caused a bit of a fuore in the process.

Should the crumpled old heap, which had its roof stoved in after an unfortunate encounter with a shipping container, stay in that tunnel for posterity's sake? Should it be moved to a museum somewhere? Or should the car's saviour restore the old girl back to her former glory, even though for all sorts of boring legal reasons it can't actually be used on the road?

For what it's worth, I reckon it should come out, but I can't see many museums wanting to take on an exhibit that can't even be moved on its own wheels.

It'd take many of thousands of pounds to mend it properly and keep it original, but if someone's up for the exhaustion and expense then they've got my backing. It'd be great to see one last Mini - the Mini that time forgot - rev up its little A-Series engine in anger.

It's too good to be left abandoned in a tunnel forever.

MINI embraces coupe style for new Paceman

FEAST your eyes on this - a sort of coupe version of the MINI Countryman.

The Paceman, which is closely related to the five-door soft roader but comes with a sleeker and sportier shape, is set to go on sale across the UK early next year, making it the seventh version of the the BMW-engineered baby. Just in case you've forgotten, here's the others; Cabriolet, Coupe, Countryman, Roadster, Clubman and the three door hatch that started it all.

A strict four seater, the Paceman will come with four engines - two petrol, two diesel - and the choice of six-speed manual and auto boxes, with the range-topping Cooper S Paceman packing a 184bhp punch and the ability to sprint to sixty in 7.5 seconds.

The Paceman goes on sale next March, with prices starting at £18,970.

The Mini show at Santa Pod was a drag for all the right reasons

YOU really needed earplugs to watch the jet car. The sound it made as it screamed past was utterly magnificent, but so loud it was actually painful.

Yesterday I thought I'd do something completely different to get my petrolhead kicks, which is why I jumped in the back of a mate's Saab for the long journey down the M1 to Santa Pod in Northamptonshire. The UK's home of drag racing was having one of its ‘Run What Ya Brung' days for Mini owners, called Mini In The Park.

The event does pretty much what it says on the tin - you pay a couple of quid, line your pride and joy up alongside someone else's pride and joy at the start of a quarter mile dragstrip, and see who gets to the other end first.

Even though I wasn't driving it was a joy to watch, particularly because there was definitely an unofficial element of Mini (the cheeky Brit runaround I've owned a couple of) versus MINI (the BMW-engineered city slicker of today). It was genuinely close stuff in some of the races - yes, the modern motor's got more power as standard, but the older cars came with all sorts of weird and wonderful modifications to make them go even faster. When one new MINI made a blistering start, only to make a large bang and deposit several expensive-looking bits of intercooler along the run, I wasn't sure if I was meant to laugh or cry.

A really quick run in a hotted-up Mini was somewhere between 10 and 15 seconds, but to appreciate the difference between really quick and a proper dragster you just had to see the jet car, a machine which manages to bend time because it's so brutally fast. I simply cannot believe it did a quarter of a mile in less than FIVE seconds, but it did, doing 265mph when it crossed the line! To put it into perspective, that's nought to the top speed of a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport in a quarter of the length of Lord Street in Southport in less than the time it'll have taken you to read this sentence. Surreal stuff.

Even though I'll make sure I bring some earplugs again next time, drag racing's definitely worth the 350 mile round trip. In car nut terms it was like Christmas had come early, only there was a different sort of Santa involved.

Life On Cars took these pictures of the event:

Fire up the... MINI Cooper S Roadster

DID the Great British Summer end ages ago or is yet to begin? Thanks to heatwaves, floods, droughts, downpours and landslides, I doubt anyone's really sure.

One thing, however, continues unabated during the country' greener months - our unusually optimistic take on it all, probably best expressed automotively through our generations of small and not-at-all-leaky sports cars. It's a mantle MINI's keen to take on with their latest addition to the small car family, a two-seater ragtop roadster aimed at the keen driver.

Posing's a big part of what sporty cars like this are all about and on this front it's usual MINI fare, with a short, stubby stylishness on the outside and lots of chunky rocker switches on the inside. To my mind it looks better than its tintop sister, the MINI Coupe, because it swaps that car's hideous baseball hat roof for neat, electrically-powered soft top that's a doddle to operate.

It's also a doddle to drive and as keen to attack corners as the rest of its MINI sisters, although I can't help feeling that if it's driving fun you're after than the 2.0 litre version of Mazda's MX-5 will offer you more thrills for the same sort of money as the Cooper S version's £19,000 asking price. That said, the rear-wheel-drive roadster can't compete with the MINI on looks or interior ambience.

Ironically, the MINI Roadster's biggest rival in my books comes from within, in the larger and more familiar shape of the MINI Cabriolet. No, the Cabriolet can't offer the same sharpness in the corners but it's still an absolute joy to drive, and it offers space for four and a bit more space for your bags. If I wanted a sports car I'd go for that infernal Mazda, but if I wanted an open-top MINI, hand on heart, I'd go for the Cabriolet.

That said, if your heart's set on enjoying the added aesthetics and agility of the MINI Roadster during what's left of summer, you won't be disappointed.

How a Mini Moke fan from Bootle became Britain's newest car manufacturer

A BOOTLE man has become Britain's newest motoring manufacturer after he put a cult classic car from the 1960s back into production.

Charles Andersen said that he has been able to start remanufacturing the AMC Cub, an open-top fun car modelled closely on the original Mini Moke, for the first time in 20 years after he secured a new supply of parts.

He told Life On Cars: “As far as I know nobody else in the country in the country is making anything else like this - all the other firms who were building Mokes like these shut down years ago, so it's something that's completely unique.

"The reaction you get people when you drive it is incredible - everybody smiles and waves at you, and you get people beeping their horns at you as you go past. It takes a bit of getting used to, but it's a lot of fun."

Mr Andersen's firm, Andersen Motor Company, originally produced the Cub in the 1980s using parts from the Mini, but was forced to end production a decade later when the supply of parts for the cars dried up. It is only now, thanks to new parts being produced for the original Mini that he is able to put his car, similar to the Mini Mokes used in the hit ITV show The Prisoner, back into production.

He added that while other Mokes were available from Chinese firms, he added that his is the only one made in Britain and the only one to pass Individual Type Approval tests, including fully-tested seatbelts for both the front and rear seats. The car also uses the same engine as the Mini - a 1.3 litre A-Series engine, in this case lifted from an MG Metro - but just like the original Mini Mokes of the 1960s is not fitted with doors, windows or a roof.

 

A car fully built at Mr Andersen's Bootle factory will set you back around £12,000 - less than the cost of a brand new MINI - but aspiring engineers can build themselves one for as little as £4,000, using parts from an original Mini used as a donor car.

For more information about the AMC Cub, visit the Andersen Motor Company website online at www.amcgb.com or give Charles a call on 07903 573050.

Keep an eye on Life On Cars over the next few weeks for motoring correspondent David Simister's thoughts on what the Cub is like to drive. 

the Olympics mini Mini... 1.09 billion dollars of sponsorship gets some things past the "No Advertisement" rule

this is just the most obvious advertising/publicity gimmic that I've heard of... BMW mini's getting all the free press in the world (I'm guilty too aren't I) because they were brilliant enough to get these small 10 HP electric remote controlled Mini's to be on camera in every discus, javelin, and hammer toss event (So I heard, I don't watch the Olympics)

The International Olympic Committee has had a rule for a long time about no advertising or publicity by sponsors. Yeah, I bet they have a rule against performance enhancing drugs too... but since these R/C cars are on the field, I doubt that the IOC can pass a test that they followed that rule about advertising

"IAAF validates several different transporters. Yes, it happens to be the official partner of the London Games but there is no commercial delivery," he told a news conference.

(wow, this guy tells lies easily, he is relying on the "No visible Logo" technicality, like the shape, look, design, front, side, and back of the mini isn't instantly recognizeable and therrefore giving BMW Mini publicity, in violation of the rule)

 "There is no link between the sponsorship and the coverage of the physical fact that these are mini Minis on the field of play," Lumme said.

 The IOC's rule on advertising states that no form of advertising or other publicity shall be allowed in and above the stadia, venues and other competition areas which are considered as part of the Olympic sites."

"The Mini is an incredibly known globally, British icon. Again Rule 50 compliant. No logos," he said.

 The London Games have received some $1.09 billion from sponsors wishing to be associated with the 2012 Olympics.

Information from http://bottomline.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/07/13166816-micro-minis-crash-olympics-despite-advertising-rules?lite


MINI’s owner BMW is, of course, a major sponsor of the 2012 Olympic Games and the cars are as much of a marketing tool as anything else, but a rather clever one in classic British fashion. The company is showcasing many of its zero emissions cars in conjunction with the event  http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/08/06/mini-mini-electric-cars-enter-london-olympics/


In the past, motorized boxes have been used to tote javelins, discuses, shots and hammers from the field back to their throwers, cutting down on time (and volunteer exhaustion). BMW was among the handful of brands that managed to get an exclusive marketing deal in the Olympic Park, and in the heart of one of the most significant sites of the London Games as well. The opportunity gave birth to the Olympic “Mini Minis.” http://london2012.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/05/mini-minis-help-keep-field-events-on-track/

The Mini MINI R/C cars will be used at both the Olympic and Paralympic games, and they join a fleet of 160 full-size  BMW series E Active models and 40 MIni E hatchbacks as part of BMW's own all-electric Olympic team.  http://www.autoblog.com/2012/08/02/olympics-to-use-mini-cooper-r-c-cars-for-javelin-discus-retriev/

Tatton Park Classic & Performance Car Spectacular 2012

DAMP weather hasn't done anything to dampen the spirits of the hundreds of classic car fans who've been visiting Tatton Park this weekend, to visit one of the biggest shows and autojumbles in the north of England.

Tatton Park has long been a petrolhead favourite but this year showgoers are being treated to three days rather than the usual two, on account of the show being held on the Diamond Jubilee weekend. Street party or the chance to check out millions of pounds worth of stunning old cars - which would you rather take up?

Because journalists still have to work on the Bank Holiday Monday, Life On Cars went up earlier today to check out some of the best automotive attractions, and took these pictures:

 

The Classic & Performance Car Spectacular is also on tomorrow and Monday at the Tatton Park estate, near Knutsford, and is open between 10am and 4pm. Tickets cost £7.50 for adults, and car parking costs £5. For more information click here.

Life On Cars has had a whopping 4,000 online visits over the past month and to celebrate has something a little special on the way. Keep an eye on here over the next few days...

MINI John Cooper Works GP II promises to be a hot hatch hit

POWER. According to the Spiderman movies, having lots of it comes with great responsibility.

So it's a shame then that BMW's being tight-lipped about just how much responsibility the latest hot MINI will need to be entrusted with, because at the time of writing exact horsepower figures for the Cooper Works GP II are a little hard to come by. However, they are promising it'll be at least as hardcore as its illustrious predecessor from 2006, so chances are it'll be rather a lot.

The company proudly claims of its mightiest MINI yet: "Only once has there been anything like it, but even that wasn’t as quick. With the MINI John Cooper Works GP, the British premium brand has come up with another car of exceptional talent designed to deliver extreme performance on both the race track and the road.

"The sportiest road-registered MINI ever made will go on sale later this year in a limited run of 2,000 cars. It is currently completing a programme of testing in preparation for series production, part of which has involved setting an impressive fastest lap of the Nürburgring’s Nordschleife circuit."

So while there's no word on power it will have a limited production run, no back seats at all, beefed-up brakes and suspension and a scrabbly turbo engine based on the one you get in the normal Cooper S.

Oh, and a pricetag expected to be at least £25,000. Chances are though it'll be at least as collectable as the original from six years ago, though!

Hugh Buckingham: the man behind the MINI Clubvan

THE Southport signwriter who gave a helping hand to one of the world's biggest car makers has spoken to The Champion about his involvement with a new MINI show car.

Last week The Champion reported on a MINI concept van being displayed at this month's Geneva Motorshow featuring the work of a signwriting firm based in the resort - but despite our initial enquiries before last week's edition, BMW, the car's creators, remained tight-lipped about the story behind the project.

However, shortly after last week's edition reached our readers we were put in touch with Hugh Buckingham himself, who explained how a family connection to the firm helped him land a job decorating the vehicle, which will be given worldwide media attention when it forms the centrepiece of the MINI stand at the Swiss automotive show.

Mr Buckingham, who has spent more than 30 years working with vehicle graphics, said this week:

"My son John works for BMW as one of their designers, and when the company decided they wanted the graphics on the van to be authentic he pointed out that I work as a signwriter, and that's how the company got in touch with me. I'm amazed at the publicity the van's aleady had and am very proud to have been involved with it.

"The design I went for is almost a little anachronistic, because it's like something you'd see on a canal boat on a brand new concept car, but that's right for the MINI because it's a very traditional product. It's the first time BMW has ever cross-promoted another company in this way, but really the praise should go to their publicity department for coming up with the idea and managing to get so much attention drawn to it."

The vehicle, called the MINI Clubvan, is a modern recreation of the iconic Mini vans of the 1960s and has already received global attention, including a brief appearance on Top Gear last week when it was discussed by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.

If you've got an automotive story for The Champion contact motoring correspondent David Simister on 01704 392404 or send him an email at david.simister@champnews.com

Can you solve the MINI Clubvan mystery?

A SOUTHPORT sign writer is to have his work displayed to thousands of people at a prestigious show in Geneva - on the side of a new MINI concept car.

Visitors to this year's Geneva Motorshow will get to see the new MINI Clubvan - a small panel van in the same vein as the original Mini van of the 1960s - on display, which features vehicle graphics on the side which reads “Hugh Buckingham Sign Writer, Southport”, giving the resort worldwide attention after the concept car was announced this week.

MINI UK said in a statement: "The company featured on the MINI Clubvan Concept shown at Geneva ‘Hugh Buckingham Signwriter’ is a UK company, based in Southport which creates similar vehicle graphics for its customers.

"The Concept showcases how these might look on a MINI Clubvan."

However, when pressed by The Champion earlier this week MINI were unable to confirm any further details about the firm, or give any more details as to how the tie-up with the Oxfordshire-based car company came about.

The Champion also tried to track down the sign writing firm to hear more about the promotion its work would get through the MINI Clubvan concept, but despite efforts to track down the company no details could be found before this week's edition went to press.

Are you the Hugh Buckingham whose work is featured on the van? Get in touch with The Champion on 01704 392404 or send an email to david.simister@champnews.com