Overview

The eagerly awaited Mini has arrived with the emotional appeal of a puppy, the high-style gloss of a fashion magazine and the technological edge of a Los Alamos lab. It is adorable, roadable and affordable.

BMW has managed to meld the inherent incongruities of the German and British car culture and reached back to the 1960s for the automotive icon of mod London. The popular Mini thus reappears as the Mini, reinvented for the 21st century.

A third larger than the original Issigonis design, this Mini is still the shortest car in American parking spaces and still larger on the inside than on the out. It totes four adults and a fair amount of stuff. Though connected to its popular past, the new Mini is clearly of this century with advanced safety features and impressive engineering innovation.

BMW priced the Mini with an appreciation for real-world pocketbooks (starting at $16,300) yet endowed it with a visual and physical opulence that ratchets up its value quotient. And finally: it's as much fun as patent-leather Mary Janes with taps on the toes.

Model Lineup

Two models are available: 115-horsepower Mini Cooper ($16,850) and 163-horsepower Mini Cooper S ($19,850). (Prices include a destination charge of $550.) (The basic 90-horsepower Mini One will not be sold in the U.S.)

Options (some at no cost) are designed to allow buyers great leeway in making their car their own. Color options outnumber those in a bag of jelly beans and can be topped with a roof that's either body-colored, black or white. (White is traditional.) Checkered flags and flags of all nations are in the works, starting with the Union Jack and the Star-Spangled Banner. Wheels can be white or silver.

Anti-lock brakes are standard as are six airbags with special head protection for both front and rear passengers.

Several popular performance and appearance options are grouped into three major packages, Premium, Sport and Cold Weather. The Premium Package ($1250) includes sunroof, automatic air conditioning, on-board computer and cruise control. The Sport Package ($1250) includes Dynamic Stability Control, rear spoiler, fog lamps, sport seats, and larger alloy wheels. The Cold Weather Package ($500) provides heat to the seats, the mirrors, the windshield and the washer jets, along with rain sensor and auto-dimming mirror.

The packaged options can be ordered ala carte as well: Leather seats ($1250), Xenon headlamps ($500), an eight-speaker Harman Kardon sound system ($550), a navigation system ($1600), and a CVT Continuously Variable Transmission ($1250) are among the options

Walkaround

The first impression of the Mini comes from its broad brow and challenging demeanor tempered by an appealing wonder-eyed look. The distinctive body shape is recognizable even in black paper silhouette. In the old days we dubbed the Mini "The Flying Toastmaster." That description would apply to today's Mini as well if that toaster has a bulldog attitude and can cling to the counter as if suctioned in place. Tenacity is built into today's Mini visually by its a slightly splayed stance.

The wheels are set as far out to the four corners as possible thus enhancing stability in turns and reducing hobby-horsing on bumpy straights. The wheelbase at 97.1 inches is longer than some small cars though the Mini's body is shorter at 142.8 inches (less than 12 feet).

The wide-across, short-in-depth hood is the product of unique design and manufacturing techniques. It might well hang on the wall of some corporate offices along with other shaped sculpture and not betray its origin. The round, large doe-eyed headlights (which go up with the hood) are partly responsible for the common reaction of "Oh-h-h, isn't it CUTE!" Actually, this response was by intent, not chance. Mini designers also threw in what they consider to be some voluptuous feminine curves and some masculine muscular bulges to cover all the visceral reactions. Thus the Mini is neither Guy Wheels nor a Chick Car. It is an engaging automotive device that has a wide appeal stretching across gender, age and economic status.

By the way, that toaster-body shape of the Mini is functional: it gives anyone riding in either back or front seats adult headroom, something that arch-shaped body designs (such as the Beetle) cannot do.

Interior Features

It is said that Alec Issigonis, designer of the original Mini, sat four adults in straight chairs, drew a line around them and thus determined the size of his passenger compartment. The box tacked on at the front housed an engine set in sideways to take less room. This Mini is a third bigger, wider, taller, longer, so a car full of adults need not be tight. Try the Mini on. It may well surprise six-plus footers.