I just picked up the October 2011 issue of Classic and Sports Car, which has not only an article on the original Mini, but also a second magazine inside, on the 50th anniversary of the Jaguar E-type! And as I'm looking at the front and rear covers of this little mag, I see: Mini Cooper headlights with chrome rings; sculpted front fenders and hood; and a central twin exhaust with a small rear fog lamp over it. OK, this may be pushing things to an extreme, but... could there have been some _minor_ styling influence on the BMW Mini by the most gorgeous car ever made? Or am I just nuts?

 

Maybe just a little nuts. However you did pick one of the best looking cars ever to compare a Mini to...and given the attention the Mini gets, it could be up there in looks...Now, if you took the front of the Jag and pushed it in about 3 feet and added a chrome gril, you might have something (try it, you might see that you are on to something).

 

As the owner of a new 1964 E-type ($6,000 !!) convertible, traded in one year later for a new 1965 E-type fastback in BRG: you're nuts.

In terms of pure automotive beauty, the closest thing I've seen to the E-type Jag is an original Z3 Bimmer. Hmmm ... by coincidence (perhaps), my wife's car is a 1998 Z3.

- Bob

 

I wouldn't go so far as to call you nuts but if you sandwiched a MINI between a Mini and an E-type I think you would easily see where the pedigree came from.