Doubt BMW perpetuated anything... They made it very clear from the get go that there had never been a front wheel drive BMW and that there never would be. They saw the success that the old Mini had enjoyed and saw the possibility of a niche car. It needed to be built in England for historical perceptions and never really dreamed that it would be the success that the Mini brand has become. Matter of fact most automotive people thought that a pemium small car would never sell in the US, boy were they wrong.. Lastly the 1.6 litre motor size was and is chosen largely due to the tax structure in Europe, most likely one of the main reasons a 2.0 motor was not selected for the R56 as most true enthusiast were hoping for and BMW didn't really want the Mini to be out performing BMW's out of the box, much like Porsche leaves out just enough that the Caymen doesn't out run the 911's....

 

Kind of reminds me of the Grand National. The General couldn't have a Buick smoking the Vettes, so good bye Grand nationals !!!

Anyway, I can say this. At least BMW knew to use a car like the Mini, instead of a newer version of their joke of a car the Issetta. Could you imagine a newer version of that?

 

^ there are some BMW plans to revive the Isetta.
A newer version of that might look something like this:
http://www.bimmerfile.com/2008/09/16...irms-city-car/

.... and none of this discussion justifies the display of an M badge on MINIs (as some have done)

 

WOW, that's very interesting. I always had a feeling that BMW wasn't going to let Mercedes out do them.

 

Hey Ms Molly! The base rack is OEM from MINI, but the stainless basket on top is from me I needed a way to carry 4 real live humans with bikes and gear bags, so I designed the bolt-on basket myself. There is a load floor for the baggage and the bike mounts are Yakima Boas mounted to the 1-1/8" round bars that are built into my design. The bars will take any Thule accessory as well. There are a few pics on this thread: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-mini-yet.html

I have thought about producing them, but I wasn't sure anyone was as crazy as me. Glad you like it!

 

 

It would be crying and begging: Please crash me so I can end my misery.

 

hahahaha!! oh man, thats just...pathetic. My ONLY thought is that that owner is attempting to be satirical, but why would be sully the name of Mini? They are (IMHO) respected cars; honda, toyota, mitsubishi, THOSE are the cars that people are shamed into putting things autozone decals, tint, steering wheel covers and spinning hubcaps on in an attempt to make it not be what it is. I see few mini owners do the aforementioned, but for the most part owners take the tuning seriously and doso tastefully.

 

I loled so hard I pee'd a lil. That guy is straight up wannabe fish and chips but he is to rice to be able to circumnavigate the world and actually by British. What a tool.

 

Maybe the MINI badge belongs because he stuffed the MINI engine into the car!

 

And BMW has just announced that they are going to start using 4 cylinder engines in their cars again. i wonder if we will see any familiar engines going into bmw's? god i hope not!!

 

Well it does have the Prius thing up front. That should count right?