Category: Convertibles 
Price Range: £15,995 to £19,000
Accomplished drive, low emissions, great fuel consumption, still desirable.
Not cheap, ride falls apart on bigger wheels, adults will struggle to fit rear seats.
As appealing as ever with a huge sense of fun - shame it doesn't look new.
Prepare to meet this summer's big hit.
The new Mini Convertible is set to kick off another automotive spot-the-difference: as with the hatch, it looks spookily similar to the car it replaces.
Luckily, Mini's engineers have been busier than its designers. The second-generation Mini droptop comes with three new engines from the hatch range (a 1.4 One follows later this year), an improved roof design that can open at speeds less than 20mph and a raft of fuel saving measures.
Mini has even tried to address the old car's awful rear vision by using a pair of pop up hoops, rather than the old car's fixed ones.
If that's not enough the range will be followed up by a fire-breathing 208bhp JCW model that promises to scare big sportscars with its performance, if not its cutesy looks.
Latest Readers' Drives About the MINI Cooper Convertible
wrote on 14 09 2007
wrote on 18 08 2006