In the frenetic preparation for my 100.000 miles project, my friends of MINI Belgium came with a spectacular addition to the mix: a MINI Clubman John Cooper Works as mobile interview studio!
Look, I do like cars. Nimble, fast cars with a lot of attitude. I have a 911, a Lotus 7 and an Audi Quattro smiling at me most mornings. But when I went to pick up the MINI JCW a couple of weeks ago, it put a grin on my face the size of Manhattan.
This John Cooper Works version of the MINI takes off like a bad day, turns on a dime, and stops on a peseta. Its twin turbos propelled me through the 100 km mark in less time than I could mutter O my, what the heck is this! The sporty roar of the exhaust can be felt in every bone, the four wheel drive eases the car effortlessly through bends and curves and the oversized high performance brakes help in keeping the rubber on the road after pushing the pedal to the metal.
This is about the most fun I had while keeping my clothes on. This MINI has more horses than the Imperial Guards of Julius Caesar, and enough power to propel a pound of beef in an orbit around Saturnus. All of this power comes with a breathtaking attention to detail. The grip of the seats, the easy configuration of the on-board instruments, the quality of the audio system, the understated luxury and the precision of the steering wheel give me all the plush of a high-end sedan in a muscular small car that invites to one thing: hitting the road again!
A fine selection of visionaries, influencers, top communicators and marketers will be interviewed over the coming weeks in this car.
I’m convinced it’s simply the coolest TV studio on the road. By a 100.000 miles.
