New car news

03 February 2009 - 12:00

A lot of hot air

Next month’s Geneva show looks set to be a cracker for hot models. Car models, we mean.

We’ve already seen the new Mazda3 MPS today, and now Mini has announced that it will unveil the JCW version of its new convertible in Geneva.

Read Tom Ford’s first drive of the new Mini Convertible (pictured).

The Mini John Cooper Works Convertible (at least, we think that’s what it’ll be called, though there’s half a chance it might end up as the Mini John Cooper Works Mini Cooper S JCW Convertible. Or something) will be powered by the same engine as the hard-top Works car: a 208bhp iteration of Mini’s 1.6-litre turbocharged four-pot.

Because of the convertible’s added weight, performance will be down a fraction on the hard-top, but we’d guess the JCW Convertible will still post a seven-second 0-60mph time and a top speed somewhere in the 140mph region.

Expect plenty of kit, too: the JCW Convertible should get the same aero kit as the, er, unconvertible, along with 17-inch alloys, uprated brakes and, no doubt, a dubious array of decals and paintjobs. Well, it wouldn’t be a Mini without them.

The JCW Convertible will go on sale in the UK at the end of March, but it won’t come cheap: prices are expected to start at around £23,000.