Category: Convertibles 
Price Range: £15,995 to £19,000
Very cute, very fashionable, very well-built, very desirable.
Not that fast, not that cheap.
There was a five-month waiting list for a long time. Says it all, really.
It's not particularly roomy - the reinforced pillars eat into shoulder-room, and it can feel a little claustrophobic with the roof up - but the Mini Convertible is more spacious inside than most soft-tops its size. The rear seats are more usable than those in a 206 CC, though you wouldn't want to do a long journey in them, and the front seat occupants certainly have enough space to stretch out. The boot's hardly huge (120 litres with the roof down, 165 with it up), but then what would you expect? The ride can be a little hard and unforgiving, thanks to the stiff, sporty suspension - and choice of larger alloys/lower-profile tyres - but there is an impressively low level of shake, rattle and roll. The canvas roof suppresses noise well, and there is very little body flex, even on rough roads at speed. Be careful of potholes, however.
Latest Readers' Drives About the MINI Cooper Convertible
wrote on 14 09 2007
wrote on 18 08 2006