2012 Mini Countryman Fwd S Leather,sunroof,heated,bluetooth,ipod,usb,satellite on 2040-cars

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BMW-designed Mini Cooper celebrates its 20th birthday

Mini is celebrating a major milestone. It unveiled the original Cooper Hardtop 20 years ago at the 2000 edition of the Paris auto show. More than merely a new car, this retro-styled hatchback laid the foundations for the entire brand. Its predecessors sometimes wore Mini emblems, but they were always sold by various companies including Austin, Morris, Rover, and, through a licensing deal, Innocenti. The name didn't officially denote a standalone carmaker until the hatchback was presented to the public in the French capital two decades ago. The decision to make Mini a brand came from executives at the top of BMW, which purchased England-based MG-Rover in 1994. Developing a Mini for the 21st century was a Herculean task. Releasing an evolution of the original car, which made its debut in 1959, was completely out of the question; it had outlived its expiration date by decades, and was a fossil in automotive terms. The new model had to be designed on a blank slate. And yet, the development team decided it still needed to look like a Mini, and it also had to drive like one. After experimenting with several concepts, like the futuristic ACV30 (pictured below) shown in 1997, designers settled on a basic set of guidelines. 1997 Mini ACV30 concept View 4 Photos According to Mini, the project brief stated the 21st-century model needed to have short overhangs, round headlights, a hexagonal grille, and room for four passengers. It also had to be front-wheel drive, a layout that made the original car a packaging masterpiece (and, admittedly, a bit of a nightmare to work on), but stylists decided to give it a hatch in the name of practicality. Finally, product planners decided to push the Mini upmarket, away from its roots as a value-friendly alternative to bubble cars, and embed it firmly into premium territory. Called R50 internally, the hatchback was initially offered in two variants named One and Cooper, respectively. Mini expanded the range in record time. Model year 2002 brought the hotter Cooper S (R53), a turbodiesel engine joined the European line-up in 2003, and a convertible (R52) was introduced in 2004. Sales in the United States started for the 2002 model year, and driving enthusiasts gave it a warm reception. It was well worth the wait. BMW never planned to keep Mini anchored to a single model. It introduced the second-generation Cooper in 2006, and new variants arrived in rapid-fire succession. By 2010, there was a Mini to suit nearly everyone's needs.

Mini Aceman spy photos show strong relation to concept

When Mini revealed the Aceman concept earlier this year, the automaker made it clear that it previewed an upcoming model. That production model is what you see here under the camouflage. And it seems the little electric crossover is hewing close to the concept's lines. The overall shape is classic Mini with a two-box layout, floating, contrasting roof and wheels pushed to the corners. It of course has big headlights at the front, and they have the bevelled edges of the concept. We can just make out the edges of a grille panel like on the concept. Of course it's difficult to see, being solid, a result of the car being an EV.  Moving around the car, we find the semi-flush door handles that BMW has come to like. The concept's wide hatch opening and multi-segment LED taillights seem to have made it to production without much change, too. The camouflage makes it hard to tell whether the squared-off contrast fender flares of the concept are sticking around, but considering how much else is true to form, we'd expect them to show up. The Aceman will fit between the new Mini hatchback and the Countryman SUV. Previous spy shots of the Countryman have shown that it's a fair bit longer at the rear than this Aceman. We're expecting it Aceman go into production in 2024, likely with a reveal sometime next year.  Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. 2024 Mini Hardtop winter testing footage before unveiling

BMW's DTM champ swaps rides with Mini's Dakar winner

BMW may not race in F1 any longer, and it doesn't compete with Audi and Porsche in the LMP1 class at Le Mans. It even shut down Mini's short-lived effort on the World Rally Championship. But that doesn't mean it doesn't race at all. In fact it's the current reigning champion both in DTM and at Dakar. So to highlight its varied motorsport programs, the German automaker had two of its top drivers swap rides. German driver Martin Tomczyk, who won the DTM title in 2011 and now drives for BMW, took to Nasser Al-Attiyah's Mini All4Racing Countryman on the sand dunes of Dubai. Meanwhile the Qatari driver, who has won the Dakar Rally two times now, took to the wheel of Tomczyk's BMW M4 DTM around Oschersleben in Germany. They even repeated the game of musical chairs at Hockenheim over the weekend. If anything, the promo clip shot by Red Bull just goes to show how different the varied racing machinery can be, and the challenges posed to racing drivers switching between disciplines. But lessons aside, it's a cool clip, so check it out above. Two champions swap cockpits: Martin Tomczyk drives the MINI ALL4 Racing, Nasser Al-Attiyah the BMW M4 DTM. Munich (DE), 1st May 2015. From asphalt to sand and back again: BMW DTM driver Martin Tomczyk (DE) and MINI ALL4 Racing ace Nasser Al-Attiyah (QA) both entered unfamiliar territory and took each other's cars for a test drive. As part of a video shoot for BMW Motorsport Premium Partner Red Bull in Dubai (AE), Tomczyk, a proven master of his trade on asphalt as the 2011 DTM Champion, took the wheel of the MINI ALL4 Racing, with which X-raid has won the famous Rally Dakar the last four years. During DTM testing in Oschersleben (DE), Al-Attiyah was given the opportunity to drive Tomczyk's BMW M Performance Parts M4 DTM. Two wins at the Rally Dakar are just some of the successes the rally driver from Qatar has had to date. He followed up his first victory in 2011 by winning in the MINI ALL4 Racing in January 2015. "Driving the MINI ALL4 Racing through the sand and over the dunes in Dubai was a fascinating experience and was so much fun," said Tomczyk. "The car has an incredible amount of torwue – and the test in the dunes was an amazing adrenalin rush even for an experienced race driver such as myself. It's totally different to driving on a circuit.