Vote: Is the MINI Coupe handsome or horrendous?

The BMW guys have guts, Brilliant extraordinairy design. Too raw for many but a brilliant icon in car design. The koreans will shortly launch a similar one. Would not mind owing one….

Not for me. All the sportiness without any of the utility of the hatch.

Plus it looks like someone tried to stretch a canvas over an open cockpit roadster.

If you suspect you are getting too old, Aaron, I’m positively ancient. I agree that the Mini Coupe is not my cup of tea. The regular Mini is awesome – I drove my oldest son’s Mini numerous times before he traded it on a GTI, and the Mini is a blast to drive. I suspect the Coupe is as well – but I would always go with the regular Mini, since it has at least a tiny bit of utility, not to mention a more proven design. The Coupe looks like it was styled on the fly, without a overall concept guiding it from print to production. But hey, what do I know? I’m 61 – officially a geezer.

I am ten years older than the George the geezer so I must be a troll, but I love the looks of the coupe. I like change for change’s sake so I think BMW has challenged the other manufacturers to get on the creative wave and make some new designs. I have only ridden in a Mini and I am not at all impressed. I don’t like the ride at all. If I ever buy the coupe, it would be on it’s looks and nothing else. I am not into luxury cars. I just traded my Element in on a Toyota FJ Cruiser – I just pick my cars on looks and little else. I like different and, I guess, boxy.

Brian is right – that picture makes it looks like someone draped one of those reflective space blankets over it.

Maybe if the roof was body color, or even black, but with the silver roof makes it just hideous. I know, maybe they thought they were picking up the color of the hood stripes, but that red body/silver roof color combo just doesn’t work. Aaron, is there a picture with a different color scheme, just for comparison?

Someone finally did it! Mini has invented a car that is uglier than the Mazda3.

Why oh why the Buck Rogers Space Helmet for a roof?

Brent: The roof and mirrors can only be black or silver. You can get a black car with a black roof, but you cannot get a silver car with a silver roof. The John Cooper Works model offers a red roof, but not with a red car. The stripes, by the way, are optional.

If you want to see the different color combinations, go to http://www.miniusa.com, select the Coupe, then click Build. Warning: Avoid the British Racing Green/red roof combination if you’ve just eaten.

Aaron

It looks eerily like someone welded the rear end of a Mercedes SLR coupe onto the front three-quarters of a Mini.

Let me tell you the photo does not do it justice. It’s even more hideous in the flesh!!!!! Oh and the visibility is so bad that the right side blind spot, even while contorting your entire body to face backward, is near impossible to see anything at all. I’ll be reading about many a fender bender in the LA traffic caused by “sudden lane changes into other vehicles”.

Bravo Mini, you managed to make a ridiculously impractical and hideously unappealing car!

I will buy this car. Even if DFI threatens to put a wind up key on the back when I am not looking.

It’s beautiful.

I LIKE IT!

This car is hideous.

The evidently difficult entry, blind spots and peculiar appearance would get old with me and quickly outweigh my desire to own a truly unique design. I can see myself coming to loathe its ownwership within a few months.

I agree with Don. I like the design from solely a design perspective, however, I think that over the long haul, it’s only meant to be a toy, and not a daily vehicle. The vast majority of these will be found in the garages of second homes and cottages for the rich, or highly modified and on racetracks like the Mazda Miata coupes.

Like with the Prius, MINI Cooper drivers are a certain “type.”

With the Prius, they’re sanctimonious environmental snobs who want the world to know they’re righteously saving the planet.

With the MINI, they’re homely nerds who desperately want to look cool, in an indie sort of way.

Look, I was never a lover of minis in the first place, there is a reason they hadn’t made them in forty years. I don’t see the new models as much better, they don’t do anything better than other cars. This new design is just plain ugly on top of it’s other traditional faults. I am sorry if I offended any Mini lovers, but as my grandmother used to say, “there is a cover for every pot”, you have to find yours.

Is it true, Don? Are you a homely nerd desperately wanting to look cool?

Dont be upset. I have a lifted truck which means, apparently, that I have a small penis.

Since when did owning a type of vehicle because you like them and want one turn in to a description of someone’s life?

Once again, ignorance raises it’s ugly head.

Hey hand it to BMW they know how to make ugly cars when they try. Anyone remember the BMW Z3 Coupe? Heck the Z3 roadster was just unattractive, the coupe elevated that to just ugly beyond words. I don’t find the mini coupe to be that bad I would just rather have a GTI I think.

Jeff, what are you taking about? If I was all about a car that depicted my life or status, I certainly would NOT be driving a base Golf/stick. I was talking about the tight entry, questionable sight lines and innovative designs of this very unorthodox looking Mini. How about you?

Don, I was refering to boriss’ comment. I thought it was you who did or does own a Mini. If not, then my mistake and sorry for the confusion.

At just slightly older than Dan, I think it looks tolerable ONLY with the black roof, and just barely at that. So far, this is the only Mini that I have not liked the looks of, and that may be fixed with the drop top version. The big problem for me is the lower roofline between the doors and the back window. Potentially poor visibility would be a concern, and the lack of utility is a deal breaker, even for a commuter.

Actually, my wife appears to envision her life vicariously through her car. She had a Mini up until about six months ago. She only likes small cars and thought the Mini’s combination of fuel economy, price, fabulous handling and stellar “fun factor” made it a great lease car. However, now she is looking for a long term purchase and the Mini’s high cost maintenance post warranty is prohibative. Right now her top candidates are the KIA Rio, Fiat 500 and Honda Fit.
Better looking field than what the Republicans are looking at!

Don, my brother certainly knows the pains of post warranty maintenance. $1000 for brakes, $500 for a broken trunk lock, $1500 for a new clutch…. the list goes on. He ended up ditching it with a dealer who wanted to scrap it for parts (more money in pieces).

As for alternatives in the field the Genesis coupe can’t be beat on the fun factor but if price is a concern I can tell you from personal experience the Elantra is perfect. Well, with the exception of MPG… apparently my driving style and habits are not conducive to the posted 29/40 and I’m actually only averaging 28 overall. I work from home so 90% of my driving is short trips around town and when I do hit the highways I tend to go with the 75+ flow of LA traffic which kills the performance of this little 4 banger. I have been able to reach the elusive 40, though, on the open road for a long trip with the cruise set at 72. Seems to be the sweet spot. Just food for thought.

I too think the Elantra is an absolutely fantastic car. Though a bit sluggish, it still has a reasonable fun factor. It’s pricing is also excellent. But it’s HER car and I know enough to mention the Elantra once and back off. We shall see how it plays out!

I hate the roof color – a red roof would be much better – I would definitely insist on the roof being painted a different color.

The Clubman would still my Mini choice, particularly if it had a good-performing AWD system available, that was fairly economical on gas.