I think the idea was, drive the car to the stage, pop on helmet, eviscerate competition, drive home. Back in the day before hundreds of support personnel and vehicles and absolute corporate sponsorship were required. The Stratos even has a trunk!

HA! The door pockets are for storing race helmets. The Stratos was a homologation special built so Lancia could conquer all in rallying.

Lancia did the window slider thing LONG before this came along.

Sure! Would a driver with it? Probably not.

These were also sold in South Africa, just with the regular Mini's nose.

Oh God YUSS. Rear engined, rear wheel drive? They are part of the same company...

Oh, and give it a rest on the it's too big to be called Mini shtick. It was played out when they launched the Countryman and about as funny as tracking dogshit into the house. Mini is a brand, and they change over time. Are you going to complain that the latest Lamborghini still can't pull a plough?

So, you complain CONSTANTLY about the Countryman, and when they introduce a 5-door Mini that doesn't rely on FauxUV design, you complain about that too? People want a Mini that's more practical, this is it, so stop your whinging.

C'mon man! I was tryin' ta make the Yanks feel better!

You might not be getting the Biposto, but Europe isn't getting this...

'Yes there is. It's called engineering.' Laughed out loud when I first read that!

You're in Edinburgh and you haven't tried Tex Mex II on Thistle Street?

Alamo. For the sole reason that at least in Edinburgh, you're actually going through Europcar, who never have anything smaller than a Golf. So I pay for the smallest car they have, and get to hire a much larger car for half the price. Yass!

It wasn't quick, but it kept up with traffic and allowed me to pull overtaking manouvers without issue or complaint. You could give it a sharp kick in the guts and it'd respond well enough. I certainly never thought it was lacking in power, but I'd probably want more from my own car. And a 6 speed.

I hired a car a few months ago for a trip north in Scotland, paid for a Vauxhall Corsa and got a brand new Golf instead. Score! Loved the 1.2 Bluemotion engine, hated that it was paired with a 5-speed gearbox. I know it was a base model, but an engine designed specifically for efficiency (500 miles on a single tank?…

The Sierra Cosworth was never available as a wagon, sadly. Would've been awesome though!

God, rolling coal. The popped collar of diesel. Fucking grow up.

You're not going to get three abreast in the front of the Connect, it's big bro has bench seats and its a shoulder squeeze every time. And that's definitely not worth column mounting a manual shifter and the engineering therin.

Yes, but they sell a fuck ton more Connects internationally than in the US with the majority of those being manuals, and column shifting a manual is a shit way to do it.

It's a damn site cooler than the Ford Fiesta I learned to drive in. I remember the coolest car anyone had for learning was a Seat Ibiza. Now its all Minis and Fiat 500s.