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Mini 60 Years Edition celebrates six decades since the original hit the streets

The original Mini launched in 1959, making this year the car's 60th anniversary. To celebrate, Mini is offering a special Mini 60 Years Edition car for the 2019 model year. Mini did a pretty awesome photo shoot for this limited-edition car, showing us how big the Mini is now compared to what it used to be in 1959. That might not have been the point, but man is it interesting to see the two chugging along next to each other. You can order the 60 Years Edition with either the three-door or five-door Mini — the larger Clubman and Countryman will not be getting this treatment. As for the changes from Mini, it's mostly aesthetic. The standard color is a British racing green, but you could choose among four other non-green colors, too. Mini will paint the roof either white or black, and the same goes for the exterior mirror caps. Plenty of stripes are already available for Minis, but this special edition has unique hood stripes — the 60 Years logo appears on just the left-hand hood stripe. That's just the beginning when it comes to anniversary stickers and logos. You'll see the designation on the door sills, interior trim, front headrests, steering wheel, and the logo is even projected onto the ground by LED light upon opening the door. Mini 60 Years Edition View 33 Photos A bunch of equipment is made standard in these 60 Year cars for a bit more luxury. Full LED lighting front and back comes with all of them. The interior trim is done in an exclusive dark maroon color — the sports seats and leather steering wheel will also be standard equipment. In the U.S. you'll be able to get either the normal Cooper or the Cooper S with this special edition package. This means either the 1.5-liter turbo or 2.0-liter turbo will be up for grabs with your 60 Years Edition Mini. These particular cars will be available in March this year, but Mini doesn't spell out pricing nor production numbers for them. Since the changes aren't necessarily drastic, we wouldn't expect an unruly price, but expect to pony up a bit more for the privilege of owning one of these. Related video: Featured Gallery Mini 60 Years Edition and original Mini View 58 Photos MINI Hatchback

This classic electric Mini costs $100,000, but just look at it

We all love the original Mini, so when a British company decided to develop an electric version of it using a restored original body, we took notice. Enter the Swind E Classic Mini. Electric cars are allowed to have a soul, and this one is just as cute as a Mini with a little gas motor. Swind, a UK-based tech and engineering company, didn't just produce a half-baked version of an electric Mini. The powertrain is a bespoke, in-house design developed by the company's own engineers. The body has contemporary corrosion protection to make sure it doesn't rot like an original from the 1960s. Also, new brake and suspension parts ensure it'll feel relatively modern to drive. Don't expect any mind-blowing specs and numbers from the little EV, though. It uses a 24 kWh lithium ion battery pack and the electric motor produces 110 horsepower. Zero to 60 mph is achieved in 9.2 seconds. That's not impressive on today's world, bu is still quicker than this Mini would have been with its original gas engine. Top speed is 80 mph, and range is rated at an impressive 125 miles. That's plenty for this little city runabout — road trips won't be this Mini's job anyway, especially if you have to run it near top speed just to keep up with traffic. Swind says it'll get to a full charge in four hours via its fast charging capability. Weight is kept to only 1,587 pounds, so this will be one of the lightest electric cars on the road. The benefits of modernizing and electrifying the Mini help out in other areas, too. You can check option boxes for an infotainment system with navigation. USB ports come standard, as do heated leather seats. Curiously, air conditioning is an option. If you prefer no power steering, that's possible; performance tuning packs are available, but there's no explanation for what that entails. There's more space in the boot for stuff with the gas tank removed, and weight distribution is improved at a 57/43 split (it was 68/32 originally). Now we move onto the less desirable portion of this Mini: The price. Converted from pounds sterling, this Mini goes for $100,970. You can buy a whole lot of car for that money, or you can have an electric Mini. At least Swind is really building it, unlike the one-off shown by Mini at the NY Auto Show last year. Production is limited to only 100 cars that all come with a one-year unlimited-mile warranty.

2020 Mini Cooper SE First Drive | Little range, big fun

The all-electric Mini Cooper has been a long time coming. The company’s first step toward electrics began in 2008 with the experimental Mini E, a car that used a powertrain co-developed with an outside company and that had some major compromises. It didn't have a back seat, there was even less cargo space than a regular Mini and it wasnÂ’t available to purchase, being offered in limited numbers for a short lease. More than a decade later, the 2020 Mini Cooper SE is available for purchase or lease to anyone, and offers the complete Mini experience, with in-house BMW-Mini technology and fewer compromises. ThatÂ’s also how Mini is marketing the Cooper SE: The S in the name is there to tell you it's as much fun to toss around as the grin-inducing Cooper S. The blunted performance from extra weight and limited range might say otherwise, but from behind the wheel, this is a Mini worthy of its S, and not some fun-challenged economy-mobile. The powertrain uses the same electric motor youÂ’ll find in a BMW i3. It makes 181 horsepower and 199 pound-feet of torque, which is just 8 hp and 8 lb-ft less than the gas Cooper S. Weight is an issue for performance numbers, since the 3,153 lbs SE lugs around an extra 453 lbs compared with its gas sibling. That reduces its 0-60 mph time from 6.5 seconds to 6.9, and its top speed also drops to just 93 mph as a function of its single-speed transmission. But a half-second to 60 mph is less significant from behind the wheel. Simply put, the Mini Cooper SE feels sprightly. It has the electric motor trademark of instant throttle response, which is amplified by the more aggressive throttle setting in Sport mode. The other trademark is a big lump of torque, though not quite as much as the tire-torching Chevy Bolt EV or Hyundai Kona Electric. These characteristics make the Mini fun for squirting around town and for making passes on the highway. Power starts falling off if you keep your foot down, so on-ramps arenÂ’t as thrilling as the longer-legged gas Minis. Also impressive are the regenerative braking modes. The Cooper SE has a mild mode and an aggressive one, with the former feeling a bit like the engine braking in a manual-equipped gas car, and the heavy one making it easy to drive with one pedal. The extra weight doesnÂ’t hinder handling. In fact, there may be some incremental improvements, as the electric Mini has a 50/50 front/rear weight distribution, better than the front biased gas Minis.