BMW to launch open-top Mini

[mrs fish]

An open-top Mini is to be produced, with sales starting in the UK next year. The announcement was made by Helmut Panke, chief executive of BMW which now builds the car.

A BMW spokeswoman said: "There has been a lot of speculation and interest in a Mini convertible and now we are saying that it is definitely going ahead."

Produced at Cowley in Oxford, the Mini has proved a big success since BMW launched a new look for the old marque in summer 2001. Cowley turned out 160,000 Minis last year and UK sales reached 35,000. In all, around 200,000 Minis have been sold worldwide since summer 2001.

There are currently three 1.6 litre versions of the Mini, the start-of-the-range Mini One, the Mini Cooper and the Mini Cooper S. A fourth Mini, a diesel-powered 1.4 litre Mini One D, goes on sale next month. It is not yet known which versions will also be offered as convertibles next year, nor have convertible prices yet been worked out.

But an open-top Mini will be more expensive than the Mini One which currently costs around £10,400.

[mrs fish]

Is no one interested in this snippet of information then?

[foggy]

Will they come in pairs so you can use the seatbelts to attach them to the bottom of your shoes like kiddies rollerskates?

[marki]

foggy said: Will they come in pairs so you can use the seatbelts to attach them to the bottom of your shoes like kiddies rollerskates?