THERE'S A NEW MINI JOHN COOPER WORKS - AND IT DEBUTS AT THE 24 HOURS OF NüRBURGRING.

The collaboration between John Cooper Works and Mini has been around as long as I can remember, and I’m old as balls now. John Cooper was a legendary British car designer and builder, famous for his involvement in the creation and design of Formula One cars that went on to win championships in the 1950s and 1960s. His expertise in creating small, agile, and powerful cars made him an ideal partner for Mini. John Cooper first collaborated with the British Motor Corporation (BMC) to create a high-performance version of the original Mini, known as the Mini Cooper and as you’d expect, this new little car featured a more powerful engine, improved suspension, and a bunch of performance enhancements. The resulting Mini Cooper gained worldwide fame in rallying, particularly with its victories in the Monte Carlo Rally in 1964, 1965, and 1967. These wins cemented the Mini Cooper’s reputation as a giant killer, able to outperform much larger and more powerful cars, and the actual cars from that era are worth some pretty good money. The Mini brand was owned by Rover, and in 1994 BMW bought it over and started plans for a revival of the brand, which took place at the turn of the century. In 2000/1 BMW reintroduced the Mini Cooper, and in 2002, they launched the John Cooper Works (JCW) tuning kits to extract a little more power and better handling from the new compact hatchbacks. It was a few years later that full JCW-tuned cars became available off the showroom floor - in 2008, these models offered factory-tuned performance enhancements, making them some of the fastest and most capable Minis ever produced. These JCW models featured significant upgrades over standard Minis, including more powerful engines, upgraded suspensions, larger brakes, and distinctive styling cues. There was even a full-on racecar for the road spec Mini, the John Cooper Works GP in 2006, with subsequent versions in 2013 and 2020 - these were track-focused, with stripped-down interiors, aerodynamic enhancements, and significant performance upgrades but being part of the BMW brand meant they were ridiculously expensive. The cars have a rich racing history, and that continues today with the latest incarnation of the John Cooper Works car.

Take a look at the YouTube video that shows off the new looks and dynamics of the latest incarnation of the popular John Cooper Works-spec Mini Cooper - a proper little hot hatch that subscribes to the original recipe for such a car: First Look: 2025 F66 MINI Cooper JCW Prototype | MotoringFile

Be sure to check out our YouTube channel here for more exciting and exclusive SXdrv content! And don't forget to smash that subscribe button.