Chicago North Shore Home & Beyond

The original Mini Cooper was anything but perfect.  It would easily stall if it went through a large puddle or leak through the door seals in heavy rain. Regardless of the original Mini’s faults, the concept of a fuel sipping street legal go-kart was anything but boring to drive and well beyond it’s time in 1959.  It won many Ralle Monte Carlo events throughout the 1960s and lived on in production until 2000.  

When BMW acquired the iconic nameplate, it redesigned the entire car but kept the core beliefs in place, high performance in a small package, exceptional handling abilities, excellent fuel economy and unique appearance.  It was a smart combination for BMW to improve on.  It did just that.  In 2001, the new MINI was released in Europe to rave reviews for it’s design, performance, fuel economy and fun to drive feel.  Now in it’s 8th year of production, the MINI has retained the character of the original but with the sturdy feel and build quality of the other models under the BMW badge.  Sitting behind the the wheel of a MINI and racing through the six speed gearbox is always a pleasure and makes driving exciting and engaging.  The smart design of BMW never seems to disappoint even in it’s smallest package.  

Here is a link to theAppleBlog.  They recently wrote an article comparing the BMW MINI Cooper to the Apple Computer.  It’s an interesting comparison as both products are designed around the philosophy of “less is more”.  You don’t need to have a massive car or computer to get high performance and smart design is what allows the “less is more” concept to work.  It’s a great way to design and is almost always aesthetically pleasing when accomplished.