2025 Mini Cooper Convertible: a droptop for the rest of us
By Larry Printz | TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
World events can bring about the creation of great products. Consider the 1956 Suez Oil Crisis, when Egypt nationalized the British- and French-owned Suez Canal Company. With Europe's oil supply threatened, the British Motor Company creates a car that’s even more fuel efficient than its popular Morris Minor. Turning to the Minor's designer, Alec Issigonis, the new car will be no more than 10 feet long, yet able to hold four people and their luggage. Issigonis comes up with a solution, initially sketching it on a restaurant tablecloth. What he visualizes is radical: a front-wheel drive two-door hatchback with an engine mounted sideways and fitted with an independent suspension to maximize interior space.
It's design that would be copied by every front-wheel-drive economy car that follows.
The original Mini
The new model debuts in 1959 as the Austin Seven and the Morris Mini-Minor. It’s a sensation, retaining its same basic design through 2000. Now owned by BMW, what is now known as the Mini is totally redesigned as the Mini Cooper for the first time in 2002 and once again becomes a worldwide fave. Fast forward to this year, as the Mini Cooper enters its fourth iteration, receiving a total makeover for 2025 and becoming more special than ever.
As it turns out, convertibles have become the province of the one-percent, with nearly all new droptops commanding prices that will make your eyes bleed. Most command premiums of $50,000 or more. Yet the 2025 Mini Cooper Convertible’s starting price is $34,945, including destination charge. Only the Mazda Miata is cheaper.
2025 Mini Cooper John Cooper Works convertible
Now an industry icon like the Volkswagen Beetle and Fiat 500, the Mini Cooper’s cheeky looks don’t change radically for 2025, retaining its round headlights. More importantly, the convertible top carries over unchanged. It works so well, there’s little need to change it. You can opt for one with a Union Jack, in case you’re the type who wants to Make America Great Britain again. Yes, it still opens partially in sunroof mode, although that results in a noisy, blustery ride. Yet going topless was never easier, as one button lowers the top in a mere 19 seconds at speeds up to 19 mph. Another lowers all four windows simultaneously. This activates the Mini Cooper’s unique Openometer, which tracks time spent with the top down.
The readout is one among many on the 9.4-inch-round screen that anchors the center of the dashboard, in a space occupied by the speedometer in the original Mini. In fact, the 1959 model guided the design of the newest Mini Cooper, with a row of switches below the screen, just like the original. But whereas the 1959 rendition had a grab strap on the right side of the instrument panel, it’s now embedded into the dashboard to meet federal crash standards. Designers did endow the cabin’s finishes with a modern sporty elan that’s thoroughly contemporary. Cabin space remains as it always was, with good room in front and marginal in the back. Better to fold down the rear seat to expand the pocket-sized 8.9-cubic-foot cargo hold.
2025 Mini Cooper convertible
Perhaps the biggest change comes under the hood, where last year’s three-cylinder powerplant has been replaced with a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine powering the front wheels. It’s rated at 161 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque in Base and Oxford trim. Opting for the Mini S models nets the same engine producing 201 horsepower and 221 pound-feet of torque. But only one grade of Mini matters to motorheads: the John Cooper Works (or JCW) grade. It’s powerplant is the same size but benefits from some tinkering to extract 228 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque. Like the others, a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission is standard, but the JCW gets sportier ratios and shifting behavior. The differences can be seen in each grade’s 0-60 times. The Base and Oxford run it in 7.9 seconds, while the S comes in at a far more respectable 6.7 seconds. The JCW rips it out in a swift 5.9 seconds.
2025 Mini Cooper convertible instrument panel
Of the different models, the Mini Cooper S is the best compromise. With lightning quick responsiveness and the crisp, precise handling of the JCW, it’s an absolute blast to drive. The more aggressive transmission keeps the engine boiling with power, making this one quick rug rat. The boost button is especially fun, adding an extra jolt of power for 10 seconds. But the price it extracts is an unyielding stiffness that renders it more track rat than daily driver. While not as quick the S is fast enough, its ride is a bit more forgiving without relinquishing the requisite agility and athleticism to make it a daily smile generator. It’s hard to have a bad day when your daily driver is a Mini Cooper S Convertible.
Seats are comfortably supportive, and the Mini’s controls are easy to use. Driving top down reveals the Mini Cooper Droptop to have good wind management. It’s easy to have a conversation or enjoy your favorite music. And regardless of model, the 2025 Mini Cooper droptop has minimal cowl shake over rough roads.
Given most new convertibles easily surpass the $50,000, the Mini Cooper Convertible proves easy to love. And its price ensures you don’t have to be a mogul to put one in your garage.