Mini unveils very loud and expensive special edition

Image: Mini USA via AFP Relaxnews

Mini has brought out a new special edition for the American market based on the John Cooper Works Hardtop which stands out for three very good reasons: its color, its price and its name.

Firstly, the paint the car is finished in is actually unique to this model, which may or may not be a good thing, depending on your personal opinion. Without skirting around the issue, it’s orange. And it has to be said it’s very, very orange indeed.

The head of Mini’s product planning and after-sales department says the paint “is a bold color historically used to make great feats of engineering and aerospace design stand out.” You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to work out that the feat of engineering being referred to there is the San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge because the color is called International Orange, which is the name of the paint used on the bridge. How the Golden Gate Bridge relates to the Mini is anyone’s guess, but there’s no getting away from the fact it’s a very striking color for a car.

The color also plays a large part in the second thing that’s so noticeable about this special edition Mini, which is the length of its name. The car in question is called the 2019 Mini John Cooper Works Hardtop International Orange Edition, and that’s quite a mouthful.

Something else that makes this car such a standout model is the amount of standard kit included, and that unfortunately means it doesn’t come cheap. At a starting price of $40,750 (over P2 million), this is a very pricy Mini. However, a quick glance at the list of standard equipment and features shows the price actually represents really good value.

Aesthetic features include black-accented graphics, door handles, fuel door and rear spoiler, and the mirror caps are carbon fiber. On the inside the Mini comes with heated seats, a premium Harmon Kardon sound system, a head-up display, satellite navigation and a number of advanced driver aids. There’s even a really cool-sounding John Cooper Works Pro Exhaust system that actually has a Bluetooth remote to open flaps which make it louder.

So, the 2019 Mini John Cooper Works Hardtop International Orange Edition may be a very loud and quite expensive little car, but it’s also pretty good value and a lot of fun. JB

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