or.....

 

+1

Try and think of all of the car models discontinued due to poor sales in the last 20 years. How many are highly sought after?

And why would the C/R be different?

 

 

This was the closest Mini (BMC) got to producing a Classic Mini based sports car in the 1960's, it never made production but would have carried an MG badge. The prototype is in the British Heritage Motor Museum in Gaydon UK.
http://www.heritage-motor-centre.co....n/#prettyPhoto

 

Because all the other cars weren't Mini's or had the following/culture that goes with a Mini.

As to the other comments...haters gonna hate. Whatever...funny how the countryman owners like to bash on the Coupe/Roadster owners about them not being "true sports cars"...like a Countryman is a "true SUV" or has anything in common with the standard R56...smh...pot calling the kettle black...

 

That front end Bumper Cover has Duell AG written all over it!

 

No. Saab didn't have any loyal followers, and there aren't any Pontiac or Honda fans out there. Mini is the only one.

It has nothing to do with hate. It has to do with wearing rose colored glasses. I don't like the Coupe much, but I love the Roadster. But I don't for a second think it has been a market success or will now be sought after. It wasn't sought after before by many, so don't think that will change.

I don't think the CM is a true SUV. If it was, I wouldn't have purchased it. As an SUV, it sucks. It is a sporty vehicle that has enough ground clearance to get me to the trail heads. If that wasn't important to me, I'd be in a Clubman right now.

And the R60 doesn't have much in common with the R56. So what? Is the R56 the holy grail of the automotive world? It is way down on my list of Mini's to consider, just above the Coupe and Convertible.

Not everyone has to like the same stuff, which is why Mini has 7 models. I don't like them all, and about 3 of them I would never even entertain the thought of owning.

And when you get on the road, there isn't hardly a lick of difference between the VW Beetle Turbo Convertible and the Roadster, and the former isn't a sports car, so wishing really hard doesn't make the latter one either.

I can appreciate a car for what it is, and don't have to put it into a sports car category to feel good about it.

 

Oh my gosh! I am so glad Mini didn't make this. It would have totally KILLED THE BRAND!

 

LOL! No, not the holy grail, but it is the essence of the brand. If not, then why the line in your signature? "My countryman is too a real MINI."

Just saying...

 

Where in the world do you get that my sig in any way advocates the hardtop is the essence of the brand? It just means that just because it doesn't share the same platform as 5 other models doesn't mean it isn't a real Mini, or that it is "killing the brand."

 

This car known as ADO34 (body by Pininfarina) was never intended to be a Mini. It was and always was meant to be an MG which was based on the Mini underpinings and was front wheel drive. BMC - (British Motor Corporation) like many other car manufacturers was trying to use what was available to cut down on development costs. Alec Issigonis, the original Mini designer was very unhappy about the Mini 'chassis' being made available to MG - another marque within the BMC empire because a two seater car like this one was anathema to Issigonis since it did not adhere to his basic designs "packaging principles."
I think the following quote is quite interesting and relevant to this thread. It comes from Charles Griffin (chief engineer at BMC)..."Both Sir Alec and I always believed that sports cars should be rear wheel drive. Sir Alec used to say that in order to have fun in driving - an essential ingredient in a sports car - two steering systems were necessary, one of which was worked with the right foot."...so that would mean that Sir Alec Issigonis, designer of the original Mini, never regarded the Mini as a sports car.

 

: a low small usually 2-passenger automobile designed for quick response, easy maneuverability, and high-speed driving


http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sports+car

 

Well, you can have a Sports Car defined by drivers and engineers, or academia in a dictionary.

I know which definition I use.

 

Yep, and it's obviously all about you (and what you think)....

 

I'd say it really doesn't matter what title a car is, it is how you drive it and what you enjoy doing.

 

It will be interesting to see whether the new 2015 Mini Cooper "sports car" will be front or rear wheal drive.
Just because Sir Alec Issigonis had his own presumption of what a sports car should be doesn't preclude future inovations from taking the Mini Cooper beyond those preconcieved presumptions into the 21st century.
Get a grip, a sports car can and has been front wheel driven and it is a matter of personal taste as to which drive one prefers over the other.

 

Interesting how worked up people seem to get over what definition you apply to a car. The MINI Roadster isn't a true sports car according some people's definition but it isn't a roadster either. The classic definition of a roadster says it should have a removable top (not fold down) and no side windows (only removable side curtains - no roll up windows). All I know is my MINI Roadster is the closet thing to a sports car I've owned since my 1963 A/H Sprite (a true sports car and roadster) and my 1966 MGB (a true sports car but not a true roadster).

 

 

I'm kinda waiting to see if they change anything on the engine(2.0L hopefully) before the take it off the line completely. I'd love to get my hands on a JCW Coupe.

 

+1. I ordered my '14 Roadster for precisely this reason. I had a '66 MGB, a '72 MG Midget, and a brand new '75 MG Midget. My test drive confirmed the MINI Roadster is the closest thing to a sports car (for me) since my British Leyland days.

 

 

And there's quite a strong family resembalnce to the MG 1300 'sports' saloon, which was a Cooper S engine in the slightly larger bodyshell that you may know as the (gulp) Austin America.

 

For now. Remember, a few years ago, the "essence of the brand" was the R53 Hardtop. In another year, the F56 (or whatever the label is) Hardtop will be the "essence of the brand".

I'm not sure what the debate about sports cars is. Whatever we decide won't matter to MINI one bit. They want to build something that they will label "sports car", and it will share MINI mechanicals. Which says to me that MINI will be marketing something as a FWD sports car.

If you don't think it's a "real sports car", then fine for you. You don't have to buy it. I've heard the "Not A Real xxx" argument way too many times on line ("The Del Sol is not a real CRX", "The 914 is not a real Porsche", and on and on and on). It does get old.

Remember, kiddies, your opinion is just that--your opinion.

 

But remember that what Alec Issigonis said, as one of the all time great car designers, was something rather more than an opinion, it was based on real knowledge.

 

It was his opinion. It may be more of an informed opinion than some, but it's still an opinion. And remember, his opinion was rendered fifty-odd years ago. That might not render it invalid, but it doesn't take into account a half-century of technology.