It all started innocently enough, wherein ChrisV brings home a MINI JCW roadster

[ChrisV]

It all started with helping out a friend. He was looking into MINI John Cooper Works models and I was helping out with research and pricing. My wife was a MINI Genius at the local dealership for a few years and we've had a couple MINIs ourselves. And while I was looking, I ran across a '13 JCW Roadster for a really good price. But it was listed as a shiftable automatic. Pictures showed, however, a manual trans. Hmmm. This was a car I've wanted since we had our first MINI. I've missed the ZHP convertible (never should have sold it) for weekend romps and tours with the top down. And with the Bolt, the Volt has become redundant (I've put 300 miles on it since March). I tried to make it more personal and desirable, but the Bolt is just more fun to drive.

So I called the dealership it was at (4.5 hours away in Virginia Beach). We crunched the numbers and talked about trading the Volt in. The numbers looked good and the salesguy confirmed it was indeed a manual trans. I checked the carfax on it. 52k miles, one owner car, service records on carfax (including a water pump replacement at 36k miles). Drove down there yesterday in the Volt and drove the MINI. Everything seemed to work like it was supposed to and man, put it in Sport and the exhaust valves open up with the most wonderful little growl and burbles and pops on the overrun (not obnoxious like some burble tunes, but a sweet factory rortyness). Took a moment to get in the groove of how to drive manual (to much time in EVs lately lol), but it was easy. Made sure it drove good, no clunks or rattles. Brembo brakes stop nicely. Steering was perfect.

Paperwork took very little time, and I left Virginia beach at 2 pm. And just before the tunnel on I64 (the only way out of Virginia beach heading north, really) traffic started backing up. Learned how stiff the clutch was on the JCW. But traffic cleared after the tunnel until we got to I95 north. From that point on, I averaged 20 mph back to Baltimore. Ugh. Got home at 8:30pm, wondering if going back to a manual was the right thing to do. lol.

Too bad it's raining today as my wife wants to drive around with the top down. She loves it. Meet Rowdy the Roadster:

[shp4man]

Nice! Love these roadster type vehicles.

[FoMoJo]

Nice, great colour combo as well.

Do they still call it British Racing Green?

[MrH]

Wow.  Really rare car.  They made very few of the Mini Cooper Coupe.  I think the roadster even more rare?  And a JCW version of that, with manual, and in the best color combo?  Total unicorn.

Congrats on the buy.

[ChrisV]

Nice, great colour combo as well.

Do they still call it British Racing Green?

This is called British Racing Green II. British Raging Green I was a non-metallic version.

[ChrisV]

Wow.  Really rare car.  They made very few of the Mini Cooper Coupe.  I think the roadster even more rare?  And a JCW version of that, with manual, and in the best color combo?  Total unicorn.

Congrats on the buy.

Yeah, I think there are like 300 JCW roadsters in the US. BRG over tan with a manual is decidedly rare. There were only 4 JCW roadsters for sale in the US when I started looking and 3 had automatics. Two were red, one was white and this one. There was on in this color combo in the showroom when my wife was working at MINI not long after we got our first Cooper. I was drooling on it then, but at $40k+ it wasn't going to happen.

I have this feeling that this one's going to stick around. It's exactly the kind of car I truly love.

[MrH]

I have to ask, how much was it?  I have no idea how these things depreciate.

[ChrisV]

I have to ask, how much was it?  I have no idea how these things depreciate.

$14,500. Actually a really good price for one and they wouldn't budge on it at all. But up to 3 grand less than the couple others that were for sale nationally.

[Payman]

Oh man sweet, and the perfect color combo as well. I feel it needs a small Union Jack somewhere.

[Laconian]

Nice! Not a fan of the fixed-roof Roadsters at all, but this looks good. How's the trunk, is it sized large enough to be useful? Does the folded top use it up, or does it stash on top?

[Payman]

Nice! Not a fan of the fixed-roof Roadsters at all, but this looks good. How's the trunk, is it sized large enough to be useful? Does the folded top use it up, or does it stash on top?

Looks like it folds away in front of the trunk, within the chromed area, a la Miata style. Something GM couldn't figure out with the Solstice/Sky.

[FoMoJo]

What is that little section on top of the truck that looks like it opens?

[ChrisV]

Nice! Not a fan of the fixed-roof Roadsters at all, but this looks good. How's the trunk, is it sized large enough to be useful? Does the folded top use it up, or does it stash on top?

Folds up ahead of the trunk, and the trunk is HUGE for such a small car. Bigger than the storage space of the regular convertible. plus the passthrough and space behind the seats. The top doesn't encroach on the space at all, unlike the ZHP convertible we had.

Man I can't wait for the rain to stop! I want to get some to down driving in, plus some good shots of it.

[mzziaz]

Nice!

Perfect colour combo, too.

[SJ_GTI]

Looks great, congrats!

[Laconian]

Folds up ahead of the trunk, and the trunk is HUGE for such a small car. Bigger than the storage space of the regular convertible. plus the passthrough and space behind the seats. The top doesn't encroach on the space at all, unlike the ZHP convertible we had.

Man I can't wait for the rain to stop! I want to get some to down driving in, plus some good shots of it.

I bought my ND after a spell of nice weather in the middle of the winter. It snowed the night I took delivery and I didn't see sun for at least two months afterward.

[AutobahnSHO]

Congrats!  Looks super fun!

[ChrisV]

Better pics from today, since it's sunny!

[CALL_911]

That is awesome. Big fan, and I don't even like these Mini Roadsters much. Congratulations.

I agree, you should've kept the ZHP

[FoMoJo]

It looks much better with the top down.  I like the dash as well, very funky.

[ChrisV]

What is that little section on top of the truck that looks like it opens?

It's a motorized spoiler that comes up at 50mph.

Added some wrap to the interior dash panels. Didn't like the piano black.

[ChrisV]

Also took it down to Baltimore downtown to Graffiti Alley with some other MINIs for a photo shoot:

[SJ_GTI]

Looks good.  I don't mind the piano black trim in most cars, but the (faux) wood grain suits that car.

[veeman]

Yeah ChrisV does simple little cosmetic changes to all his cars which all look great!

[MX793]

With that interior and exterior color scheme, I think the wood grain look works better than piano black.

[FoMoJo]

Yes, it looks good.  Blends nicely with the other tan coloured highlights plus seats.

[CaminoRacer]

Kinda interesting that they put piano black trim right next to the tan leather in the first place.

[ChrisV]

Yeah ChrisV does simple little cosmetic changes to all his cars which all look great!

Thanks! The only other mod I want to do to it is also going to be subtle. I'm removing the black vinyl strips on the hood and decklid and replacing them with ghosted gold pearl versions under the clear that will only be visible in certain lights and from certain angles. The vinyl stripes tend to get etched, cracked, and peel, and tend to look tatty (and catch the wax on the edges, too).

The black stripes are subtle, too. I just don't like them as much (you can barely see them in the first pics, and in this one):

[ChrisV]

A couple subtle tweaks...





I got the pearl to do the stripes, now I just have to find time to get it done.

[Submariner]

Sharp looking car.  Hope you're having lots of fun with it.