PH Blog: don't fancy yours much
Garlick fights the corner for the Mini Coupe, which is brave given the response to it thus far
I'm fully aware that the new Mini/proper Mini debate will rage on, and some won't like the new car any more than current buyers probably wouldn't consider the original version. Time moves on, brands and ranges evolve and, yes, the Mini is now bigger, more luxurious and more expensive than ever before. But show me a current model from any manufacturer that isn't.
As the brand evolves it now offers 4x4 and estate options that polarise opinion and the new Coupe and Roadster are all set to do the same. In fact, the one sitting in the PH car park right now is already raising eyebrows and attracting some fairly robust Tweets from Mr Harris and many others. Now, I drove it last night and can report that it is as much fun to drive as any other Mini, but this isn't a review and that job will be down to Mr Trent.
What struck me is just how much attention I got while driving it - it inspires as much neck craning as a Ferrari 458, it makes folk smile and, among women especially, the response is overwhelmingly positive. (Mini mightier than the mustard trousers shocker! - Ed.)
Mock the brand all you want, but Mini seems to be making cars that appeal to a certain demographic and they are buying them in their droves. And underneath that shouty image lies a great car that many buyers won't begin to exploit, and that means a good car is going to waste. This Coupe drives really well, but we as PHers probably won't buy it. It's over-styled and costs upwards of £25K in JCW form, and for that price you are spoilt for choice, not least with the much more overtly PH-worthy Subaru BRZ (or GT 86 equivalent) driven this week.
What does that mean for the Mini? Only time will tell I guess but a nice little driver's car is in danger of written off for being too cute by the likes of us and the brand may well end up being known more for style than substance.
That's a shame.
Garlick
I did spot a roadster on the back of transporter on the M25 a couple of nights ago. It looked so much better than the daft roof of the coupe. I need a better look to judge long term but I liked it!
Mini had the chance to do something completely different with this (as Audi did with the Golf platformed TT all those years ago). Instead the head designer said that he got his styling inspiration from a backwards baseball cap.
Hilariously, Mini kept trying to tell us that it was 'the most masculine Mini yet' and that it would appeal to 'young, single men'. Really? Reallly?!?
It's a roof chop on a standard car. Thats the sort of thing hot-rodders were doing in the 50's.
It wasnt practical then, and isnt now. If i want a fast mini, i'd buy a standard fast mini, which would let me use the rear seats for luggage, shopping, kids etc etc, without having to be a hobbit to get in and out comfortably.
For the money they ask, i'd have a used Elise if i wanted something fast small and non-practical.
You may have guessed, but im not a fan.
By cute I mean the Mini range/ brand as a whole, not just this car.
The chassis and engine are great, but it's a car aimed at the fashionista market. Shame. If it was packaged (and priced) better, we'd all be raving about it.
In the same way that If i drove around in a fluorescent pink fiat multipla people would stare, doesn't mean its because they like it.
I think the hatch is a cracking car (although i'll never get on with that over styled interior) but the coupe is just ridiculous. Expensive and looks hideous.
Imagine for a second that this wasn't called mini. That it was a new range of cars designed from the bottom up to be new and different. Let's call it the BMW Zargon range.
Then I could get it. They're making a range of cars that people want to buy. Small(ish) cars that you can customise and that come with a quality(ish) interior. Not as expensive as a full BMW, but still reliable and classier than the likes of Ford and VW. A bit of fun. Dare I say it, one for the laydeez? That's a clever marketing idea. A new(ish) niche.
Start with a hatchback, then a hot hatch, then expand into mini estate, SUV, FWD coupe. Build a strong brand image. And if they're good to drive, well built and sensibly priced, why not? I could just about see the missus buying a Zargon estate.
But then they go and slap the mini name on it. And, okay, that might win it some sales, but it's also going to lose it a fair number of customers. A fat mini isn't a mini. It's a maxi, an allegro. Proof that the germans don't have a sense of humour.
I looked at a mini cooper D a few years ago. Possibly the shortest test drive in history. I had hardly parked my bum in the seat when the entire "mock mini thing" with the huge central dial and Amstrad switches just turned me off. It felt like I was sitting in a branch of toys'r'us with a smattering of Austin Powers retro thrown in. Got myself into a 1 series instead. Not pretending to be anything other than what it is.
Now the coupe. So ugly that only its momma could love it, an MX-5 wannabe without the clean lines or RWD. But I bet it will drive like any other Zargon, sorry ... Mini. Which is pretty smartly, I'm told. And I bet it will sell reasonably well. Some people will love it. But it doesn't set my world on fire. It's okay.
I just wish it wasn't called a Mini.
In the same way that If i drove around in a fluorescent pink fiat multipla people would stare, doesn't mean its because they like it.
Not at all, women want to look inside, to ask questions and to know more. It's positive, but far from car enthusiasts looking and asking for car-related reasons (as they do when in my TVR) this is all bout the way the car looks.
I am on no doubt that some of those who looked hated it, but I assure you (with genuine honesty) that mostly it was positive......but mostly from ladies!
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