British

It's the latest in a long line of study models and, given the BMW Group's penchant for using concepts to gauge public reaction, is a real possibility as a production model. It also marks the 10th years since the Mini brand was re-launched in the US.The Mini Paceman Concept coupe rides on the same raised platform as the four-door Countryman, but the front-end has been restyled along the lines of the regular Cooper S, though with extra intakes in the front bumper to improve brake cooling.The engine has been transplanted from the top-spec John Cooper Works production model, meaning a turbocharged 1.6-litre mill with 155kW/260Nm. That should give it a 0-100km/h time close to the JCW Clubman's 6.8 seconds.Mini describes the Paceman as the first "sports activity coupe" in the small vehicle segment and is pitching the concept at extrovert urban professionals who like a unique look, and don't mind being looked at.The raised ride height is designed to be matched with Mini's optional All4 all-wheel-drive system. Drive is split equally between the front and rear wheels, but the electromagnetic centre diff can direct all power to the rear if required.The concept rides on 19-inch wheels and is 4110mm long and 1789mm wide, making it a Mini in name only.The exterior design has focused on horizonal lines, with a a flat roof, wrap-around glass and rising waistline giving the car a wedge-shaped profile not unlike the Range Rover Evoque."In contrast to the more vertical design of the Countryman, we've given the Paceman Concept a horizontal emphasis and accentuated the width of the car rather more," Mini's exterior design chief Marcus Syring says.The rear lights have been pushed to the outer edges to continue the stying theme, while a rear diffuser is intended to enhance the car's look and aerodynamics.The Mini theme of pushing the wheels to the extreme edges of the body are continued along with MacPherson strut front suspension and a multi-link rear set-up, so it can be expected to handle as well as the rest of the range.Inside are four leather-trimmed and contoured seats, while the centre console and instrument cluster are instantly recognisable to anyone what has sat inside a Mini.Mini Paceman ConceptEngine: turbocharged 1.6-litre four-cylinderOutputs: 155kW/260NmBody: Three-door coupeSeats: Four

For 10 years, the carmaker has supported the AIDS charity event with decorated Minis that were auctioned as fundraisers. This year, they've handed the keys to three high-profile designers: Calvin Klein, Kenneth Cole and Diane von Furstenberg.Cole has gone for a post-punk look, with the body covered in studs. "In our collection we always aim to bring fashion and function into harmony. And that is precisely what the Mini Convertible stands for," Cole says.Diane von Furstenberg's red Mini is sprinkled with colourful lips and features a white roof and alloys. "I wanted to create something that celebrates life and reminds us of the importance of health," she says. "The red colour of the Mini expresses the awareness of HIV/AIDS, the lips represent Diane von Furstenberg. This car is bursting with life and love."Calvin Klein designer Francisco Costa went for self-assured minimalist style. His crossover Countryman features an understated matt black body, and bears the hallmark CK signature in reflective rubber on each of the front doors.The cars will be auctioned at the amfAR Gala in Vienna on 17 July.

The $695,000 indigo blue Rolls-Royce Ghost - number four off the production line - landed in Australia to woo clients before being air freighted back to the UK. Even before it landed the buzz surrounding the newest Rolls has secured firm orders.  So far, of the 40 cars expected in Australia, more than 30 have been sold, even though deliveries do not start until next June.Rolls-Royce distributor, Trivett Classic, expects the Ghost to be one of the most popular Rolls-Royces available.  The factory is aiming to build between 2000 and 2500, more than doubling output at its UK factory in Goodwood.General manager, Bevin Clayton, says there has been a strong level of interest in the smallest and cheapest Rolls, even though it boasts a 6.6-litre 12-cylinder engine capable of 250km/h and a zero to 100km/h sprint of 4.9 seconds.  "It has certainly appeal to a wide number of Melbourne buyers, which has further strengthened the high demand we are experiencing in Australia despite the current economic climate," he says.Clayton says there are signs of a recovery in top-end luxury car sales, with Trivett selling three Phantoms in recent months.  He describes the Ghost as ‘business suit’ Rolls-Royce, where the larger Phantom is the ‘dinner suit’ Rolls.  Many Ghost customers are new to the brand, he says."It is luring people out of other high-end European cars," he says.  One customer is trading his $500,000 AMG Mercedes-Benz S-Class to go British.Ghost No4 may have been fresh off the production line but it boasts some exquisite features, from a silver satin bonnet, to 20-inch alloys, dual chrome exhausts, lambswool floormats, front and rear ventilated massage seats and picnic tables.As befits a Rolls, the Ghost uses the finest wood and leather materials.  Housed in the front doors are integrated teflon-coated umbrellas, while it borrows the Phantom's rear coach doors that open to a generous 83 degrees.For a limousine ride, the car rides on a high-tech air suspension that can detect even the smallest change in road surfaces.  For example, it will detect the movement of a single rear seat passenger from one side of the vehicle to the other and adjust the ride.

The Italian company's worst nightmare, a McLaren P11 using a stream of grand prix technology to rival its own F1 input, is racing towards its on-sale date in 2010. The P11 is already a road-going reality that is now into serious testing work at the Nurburgring course in Germany ahead of its official preview later this year.It was caught by Carparazzi this week while being driven by Chris Goodwin, a veteran race driver who led development on the Mercedes McLaren SLR supercar and also travelled the world giving hot laps to VIPs and potential buyers. Goodwin is easy to spot because of the signature fluoro paintjob on his helmet.The disguised P11 prototype is far less elegant than the new Ferrari, but is expected to be just as quick with a Mercedes-made V8 engine with more than 400 kiloWatts and a range of go-faster systems taken from McLaren's Formula One team. A carbon fibre chassis and paddle- shift gearbox are almost mandatory, along with a range of low-drag aero parts.Few details of the engine have emerged, apart from its basic layout, but it is expected to come from Mercedes-Benz's go-faster AMG division despite the split between the two companies over their supercar directions. Neither was happy with the SLR, which was too soft for McLaren and not luxurious enough for Benz.So Mercedes is bringing back a Gullwing with its front-engined SLS by AMG, which will be previewed at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September ahead of sales next year, while McLaren is going more extreme with the mid-engined P11.Sources in Britain point to a production start-up for the car in the first quarter of next year, under the direction of former F1 team boss Ron Dennis. He quit the grand prix world earlier this year in the fallout from the 'Lie-gate' scandal involving world champion Lewis Hamilton, but has since devoted himself to the McLaren road car business run from the same giant facility at Woking in the UK which houses the McLaren F1 team.The P11 is carrying very little camouflage to disguise its wedge profile and giant side air intakes, which are exactly what you expect of a race-style mid-engined two-seater. But it's the final finishing that will make the difference for buyers and that will not be revealed until much later this year.

The smaller, cheaper — less costly — luxury limousine is still firmly on track for a production preview at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September ahead of the first sales in 2010.Undisguised test cars are now a relatively common sight in Britain, where Carparazzi photographers caught this Ghost during on-road trials close to Rolls-Royce headquarters at Goodwood.Work is also well advanced at the Rolls-Royce factory, where a second production line is being installed for the Ghost alongside the existing Phantom assembly line. The plan is to double production from 800 to 1600 cars, although this number could be adjusted during the expected early rush for the Ghost.More information has just come on the car, which will have an engine producing 420 kiloWatts and 780 Newton-metres of torque. Rolls-Royce says this will be enough for a top speed limited to 250km/h and a 0-100km/h sprint time of 4.9 seconds.

Despite sweeping two production classes in this year's German 24-hour classic, including a fresh victory for the latest V12 Vantage coupe, the British brand is doing all it can to translate motorsport success into showroom results.That could even lead it into grand prix racing in 2010 with David Richards, the Prodrive and Ford Performance Racing chief who is also the chairman of Aston. Richards has just filed an entry for next year's Formula One world championship, but that's another story . . .While the track work has been paying off for Aston it is also working to create a Road Sport range to give a halo to the brand and bridge the gap to its super-exotic One-77 coupe.It is already pushing the V12 Vantage RS and now has a drop-top model ready to go: the Volante RS.Aston is not believed to be going as hardcore as Porsche does with its RS models, and particularly the stripped-down GT3 RS, but still wants to provide more performance.It is also following Bentley, which is doing the RS job with its growing line-up of Speed models.The V12 Volante RS was caught during test on roads near the Nurburgring in Germany but there is no new yet from Europe about a potential on-sale date or pricetag. But the car will definitely be fast with a 6-litre V12 in the nose.    

This year marks both the 100th birthday of the Mini’s inventor, the late Sir Alec Issigonis, and the launch of what BMW like to depict as the latest incarnation of the small, but perfectly formed, Mini that first appeared in 1959.In 2001, BMW did its Dr Frankenstein thing with the moribund marque that had little more to offer its fanatical devotees than heritage and memories of The Italian Job.By contrast, the wholly New Mini – as it was called – offered faddists a package of German engineering; though it also "inspired" the blandest movie remake of the early millennium.With the arrival of generation two (that’d be the "new New Mini", then), the nameplate has not only survived the novelty of the retro auto movement it embodied, but has thrived to the extent of contributing 15 per cent of the BMW group’s global sales.BMW call its only front-wheel-drive the "only premium small car". You might wonder how certain other top end Euro hatch makers would respond, but it’s true that nothing else is quite the same.The hatches to which Mini is predictably compared are go-fast versions developed from humble shopping trolleys, whereas a Mini has no utilitarian relative. Yes, there are variants of more or less power, but in the main, a Mini is a Mini.It exists for no other reason than to provide buyers with a style statement that’s tolerably entertaining to drive and it has worked to the extent that 80 per cent of owners are new to the BMW group.Half of them are expected to buy another Mini and half of these in turn will go for the upper spec and quite quick Cooper S that’s been shown to the world’s media in Barcelona over the past fortnight.It goes on sale in Australia early in the second quarter of 2007, alongside the atmo "S-less" Cooper with diesel and convertible versions to come later.For now the current model rag top will continue to be produced with the new line of hatches."We wanted to launch with a bang," said a Mini man by way of explanation for their being no base models available when we visited Catalonia with the first wave of media to meet the new Cooper S. It wouldn’t want to be a squib then ...The immediate impression of the mass of gaily coloured Coopers arrayed by Barcelona’s Olympic Canal awaiting rapid deployment through the winding roads of the region is of change so subtle it is almost invisible. By third or fourth glance, though, these enhancements are telling and effective.Sixty millimetres longer than the previous model, its wheels are set far forward and back for longest possible footprint and scarcely an overhang.This works within to the extent that my average height co-driver could sit behind my above-average height driving position. Well, sort of - deep inserts in the back of the front seats removed the need to hug his knees while I could just about steer.Of more relevance than irksome practicalities, are the cosmetic options. I mean, this is Mini, right? With 319 exterior variations and 372 inside, Mini claim a theoretical total of (ahem) 15,000,000,000,000,000 trim combinations.While it’s all I can do to type that, they seemed quite straight-faced about it. Whatever, it’s unlikely you’ll see two Minis of identical trim and spec.Circularity is the dominant design motif; from the headlights that are now built into the body rather than the pedestrian-yielding bonnet, up to and including the huge kitchen clock-like speedo and disc-shaped ignition device that slides into the dash beneath the start/stop button.The Mini would do nicely for the fashion distracted DINK couple who find their nest filling and so need to replace their MX-5, that relatively affordable, two-seater style statement par excellence with a not too expensive two plus two. Certainly no-one could accuse them of surrendering to suburban SUV anonymity.Nor, with the Cooper S’s new blown engine, would they have to wear hairdresser slurs. The need to accommodate BMW’s latest small capacity Valvetronic fours was the primary impetus for developing the second generation range.While power of the Cooper S’s turbocharged 1.6 is up a mere 3kW to 128 over the old supercharged unit, torque rises a useful 20Nm to 240 with a decidedly juicy 260Nm briefly available under hard acceleration via the overboost function. Progress comes sooo much more readily now, with a lovely fat torque curve that arrives at 1600rpm and lingers until five grand.If there’s not much on offer after that point, already the Cooper S has gone further and quicker than you would have reasonably expected of a compact but bulky 1130kg package.The twin scroll turbocharger works seamlessly; turbo lag no more an issue than in the blown 3.0 litre of BMW’s recently released 335i.A claimed acceleration time of 7.1 seconds for the 0-100km/h will likely be reduced with the introduction of the sports mode that was missing from the launch cars.As it stands, the Cooper S travels with the assuredness of much larger car.At almost double Australian legal speeds in fifth on the freeway, it didn’t trouble the rev limiter.Through the seemingly ceaseless succession of second gear corners of the region’s B-roads, it could keep the company of all but sharpest hot hatches (dynamics will be enhanced by the optional limited slip diff).Rapid progress feels a bit too remote through the over assisted steering. It’s accurate enough but lacking the tactility to appreciate the Mini’s much vaunted "go kart" feeling.Torque steer occurs in extremis, but the press on driving impression is one of tractability, controllability and good, clean fun.Tail action can be provoked with the electronic nannies switched off, though it’s more twitch than a waggle.Our cars came with the same close ratio six speed manual gearbox that would be great instead of merely very good if the third-to-second down change sprung home more readily.Don’t take that as definitive; it’s an impression marred by the hamfistedness that comes with only infrequently rowing a left hand drive car.What would be handy in any configuration, however, is a more amorous driver’s seat; it’s slightly too flat and unsupportive for the more manic moments.Ride impression also need await local release. The runflats tyres (16-inchers on the conventionally suspended model, 17s with the sport tune) were good enough for first world roads.While the stiffened suspension offers marginally more grip and power out of corners, we’ll hazard that the softer option will be the choice on Australia’s crap tarmac.On the basis of our Mini homage to Catalonia, you’d have to say that there remain similar cars that offer either a more focused driving experience (Renaultsport 182) or greater all round ability (Golf GTI). But the great thing is these are just not Minis, and that’s kind of the point of owning one.Even so, the revitalised Cooper S offers ample substance to supplement its singular style.Paul Pottinger is a senior roadtester on the CARSguide team, and also editor of the Sunday Telegraph CARSguide. A version of this review, as well as other news, reviews and analysis will appear in the Sunday Telegraph.