When we first clicked on the freshly released clip of the MINI Cooper JCW GP, we got all excited when we saw that it was at a track. However, that lovely sensation was short-lived, as it’s only a pre-production prototype (or mockup, whatever you want to call it) that was featured in a photo shoot.
It’s not going very fast, and crucially, the interior is hidden behind blacked out windows. However, the car does look very good, a truly hot hatch among un-hot hatches. Light banter aside, let’s see what we know about the car.
The new John Cooper Works GP went round the Nurburgring in 8 minutes and 23 seconds, which is a respectable time, and also 19 seconds faster than the old JCW GP, which has a supercharged 1.6-liter with 210 hp.
We don’t have a figure for the new one, but we do know it will be a 1.6-liter turbo, lowered suspension, lighter wheels, a full body kit and crucially no rear seats, since these were replaced by a stiffening brace.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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