Color combination

On the way to check proofs for some books I'm having printed in Atlanta, I motored down the 75 alongside two other MINIs. One was a white '07 Cooper and the other was an '06 S, like mine, with black body and black roof. MINI boasts 10,000,000 combinations in their configurator and it's no secret that picking the color is a prime identifier of how unique and sentimental owning a MINI can be. When I picked my red-with-white-roof S a couple years ago, the only other combination I considered was an all black MINI like the one I saw this morning. Boy did I make the right decision.

Of the sport cars I've had (the SAV doesn't count) in the last decade, they've all been jet black, until the MINI. My Cooper S is the first car I've owned where I dig the image and feel of the car as much as the drive itself. It's not so much about flying under the radar as that the MINI makes people friendly, happy, and sporty. Although I'm typically biased against sport cars that are not black, it's okay to have a Red Cooper S. Or a Yellow one. Or one called Hot Chocolate. The MINI has a rare ability to allow the driver to express themselves through color, options, and styling without being an overt aftermarket nut or just plain vain. So, express away.

I've thought about what I would change on a new MINI, at some point down the road. This is particularly applicable for the Clubman, which requires two tones because of the colored C pillar. I'm currently digging the black and red option.



The point is that there are very few cars that I feel can pull off the color red. (Hint, almost all come from Italy.) The MINI is an even rarer specimen in that it not only looks good, but looks better with a combination of two hues.

Notes: the pictured speedster is a Hardtop JCW. Note that it's not a JCW package; the JCW is now a trim level, just like "S."