March 3, 2004:

John Cooper Works visit!

Although GBMINI stayed home in America, I recently had the chance to visit the John Cooper Works in south east England. There were a lot of MINIs and Minis there, in various states of upgrade:

(cars outside John Cooper Works showroom)

(MINI being rebuilt for racing)

(Mike Cooper driving his MINI)

(Mike Cooper in person)
Talking to Mike Cooper and other people working there was very interesting - as was seeing MINIs in various states of disassembly as they are upgraded. The successful John Cooper Challenge, which gives people the chance to race & compete at a sensible cost in upgrade MINI Coopers, will this year include 200hp upgraded MINI Cooper S vehicles which should make the racing even more entertaining - shame we won’t see it covered in USA!
More pictures from my visit in the gallery …