Mini JCW Anniversary Edition 26 | 07 | 2021
MINI HAS BUILT a limited run John Cooper Works Anniversary Edition to mark the 60th anniversary of its partnership with motorsport ace John Cooper. But if you want to get your hands on one of the £33,800 cars, you’d better be quick: just 60 of the 740 cars destined for the UK. Order books are open now. (Related: The £98,000 resto-mod Mini)
Power comes from the 227bhp 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine lifted from the ‘standard’ JCW. Power is sent to the front wheels via either a manual ‘box, or an automatic. The latter starts at £35,500. Zero to 62mph is covered in 6.3secs.
The Anniversary Edition is available only as a three-door, and comes in one colour — Rebel Green — but comes with a contrasting white roof, bonnet stripes, headlight rings and door handles. look carefully and you’ll also spot flashes of red, most noticeably in the red brake callipers and red pinstripes on the bonnet decals. The side scuttles also boast a classic Cooper Company badge. (Related: Mini gets a major facelift for 2021)
The doors and bonnet also feature the number 74, with pays homage to the starting number of a classic Mini Cooper that won its first race at the Snetterton Lombank Trophy.
Inside the cabin the dashboard gets a special touch, with signatures from John Cooper, his son John Cooper and grandson Charlie Cooper. There are also additional classic Cooper Company badges on the sill plates and steering wheel, while the rest of the interior trimmed in Dinamica upholstery and piano black trim. (Related: Scots dealer named UK Mini No1)
Standard kit also includes Mini’s Navigation Plus Pack (featuring an 8.9-inch touchscreen with navigation) plus the Comfort Plus Pack.
So, who exactly is John Cooper? A veteran of Formula 1, with a constructors title to his name, in 1961 he decided the lightweight, cleverly packaged original Mini would form the perfect basis for a performance model. So he duly set about building a more powerful Mini … and christened it, the ‘Cooper’. (Related: Eastern Western buys Grassicks BMW and Mini)
There then followed an even more sporting Cooper S version, which became a formidable rallying machine winning the Monte Carlo Rally in 1964, 1965 and 1967.
Since then, the John Cooper name has been synonymous with high-performance Minis, with the JCW moniker marking the pinnacle of series production Minis to this day.
No surprise than that the latest Anniversary Edition also includes a door frame emblem with John Cooper’s signature, a handwritten ‘1 of 740’ script and the words “THE UNEXPECTED UNDERDOG”.
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Jim McGill