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2013 Mini John Cooper Works GP will start at $39,950*

Get your wallets ready, folks. The 2013 Mini John Cooper Works GP arrives this fall, and we've now learned that the cost of entry for the potent little hatchback is $39,950, (*) including $700 for destination.
Aside from an adorably tough appearance, that just-under-$40,000 price tag gets you a whole host of performance goodies, including a turbocharged four-cylinder engine good for 218 horsepower and as much as 207 pound-feet of torque. No, that isn't any more oomph than what you get in the standard JCW Hardtop, but there's a whole lot more to the GP kit. For starters, there's a fully adjustable coilover suspension, not to mention a reduction in overall weight - at 2,558 pounds, the GP is 121 pounds lighter than a normal John Cooper Works Hardtop.
A Mini spokesperson confirmed to Autoblog that the JCW GP can only be purchased one way, and will be offered as an option package on the standard John Cooper Works Hardtop. Its starting price represents a $5,150 increase over a standard JCW model, and is the most expensive model in the Mini range (the next being the $35,550 John Cooper Works Countryman).

Honda engines and giant killing in the classic Mini Cooper

Electric Federal has taken a fresh look back at the enduring legacy of original Mini with a video interview with Heritage Garage's Graham Reid, one of the foremost experts on classic Minis. As Electric Federal points out, it's important to remember that the Mini did not start out as a performance car. It was built in response to the Suez Canal crisis of the mid-50s, which had a similar effect on British gas prices as OPEC did on American prices in the 1970s - rationing and rapid price jumps.
Through the years, Minis have grown from their budget roots to become seriously competent performance machines. As Reid says, a 150-horsepower Mini on the right track should have no problem outpacing a contemporary Porsche 911.
For some time now, classic Mini owners have been dropping Honda engines under the tiny hoods of their classics. With up to 250 horsepower pulling a car that tips the scales at barely 1,200 pounds, the upgraded Mini is "a real sleeper," Reid says. Interestingly, Reid doesn't mention another increasingly common swap in the Mini community - Suzuki Hayabusa-powered Coopers.

Next Mini Convertible spotted on flatbed truck

Mini is well underway testing the third-generation of its four-place Cooper Convertible, as evidenced by these photos, showing the new droptop riding along on a flatbed.
Codenamed the F57 - as opposed to the "F56" designation for the Hardtop - the Convertible will ride on the same UKL front-drive architecture that will underpin its hardtop brother, not to mention its German cousins, the BMW 1 Series GT and X1. According to our spies, it'll share more than a few of the BMW i's lightweight technologies and will include such advanced features as electronically adjustable dampers. That seems like some high-dollar tech for a droptop Mini, but we'd be quite happy to see it arrive all the same.
From the beltline down, we can expect the Convertible to feature almost identical styling to the Hardtop. Based on the spy photos, there's not a lot to see above the belt line, either. The roof carries roughly the same shape, and will probably fold in a similar Z-pattern to the current canvas top.