Having celebrated its dynamic debut earlier this
summer at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Mini John Cooper Works (JCW) GP
was brought to California last week, for the 2019 Pebble Beach Concours
d’Elegance. The company’s most powerful street legal car ever is currently in the
final testing phase and will go into production in November this year. However,
you’re going to have to wait a bit if it’s on your radar, as the market launch
is scheduled for 2020.
Only 3,000 units of the high performance subcompact
hatchback will be produced, and all of them will feature a 2.0-liter,
four-cylinder engine, with Mini TwinPower Turbo technology, producing 296 hp. Nobody will mistake it for anything else either, courtesy of
the exterior makeover, with large air intakes, front and rear aprons, roof
spoiler and oversized wheels.
The JCW GP was part of Mini’s 60th anniversary
celebrations in California, alongside the new Cooper SE. The electric model
uses a 181 hp motor to drive the front wheels, backed up by a
lithium-ion battery mounted in the floor. It has a driving range of 235-270 km, can hit 100 km/h in 7.3 seconds and reach a top
speed of 150 km/h. The firm’s bet on electricity has paid off, as they
have received more than 45,000 reservations for the car.
Mini’s celebrations continued with a few other
vehicles that were displayed, including the 1965 Cooper S in contemporary rally
trim, two special editions of the classic Mini from the final year or
production, a first-gen Mini JCW and the Mini E.
