www.IndyConvertible.com

Before the Mini Cooper burst on the scene, the sub compact car was supposed to be cheaply made. It was a car that new drivers could pick up for a few bucks and soon tear up. Somehow the safety features on sub compacts, the cars that needed it most, were optional or none existent. The Mini Cooper was different. It was a very small car but it had nice features like airbags all around.

After a few years of normal production the friendly folks at Mini (BMW) decided to produce a convertible. So in 2005 the Mini Cooper convertible was unveiled to Europe and then the states. The convertible retained the classic speedometer location in the center of the dash. (Allowing everyone in the vehicle to know your speed.) They added an interesting convertible top. The top could be lowered while driving because of a rail system and it took a mere 15 seconds. The top could be partially lowered giving you a sunroof kind of feel. In essence you could have a car with a roof, a large sunroof or a full top down car, all in one. It's a pretty amazing little feature.

For performance you could go with the standard Mini Convertible with very good mileage or move up to the S model or the John Cooper Works option for full performance. Zero to 60 in 6.6 seconds with 210 horsepower is very respectable. Overall the John Cooper option was fairly pricey when you consider the features that it included. This is the closest you can get to a go-cart feel in a modern, sophisticated car...only the MINI Cooper.