It is said that the original Mini, built by BMC and designed by the inventive Alex Issigonis, never made any money because its engineering was so complicated it was expensive to build.

However, it did defi ne a generation and was a symbol of the 1960s in particular, though it was produced from 1959 up until 2000.

It also was a fi ne competition car and made famous a genial Irish rally driver, Paddy Hopkirk, who was part of the winning team on the Monte Carlo Rally when it was a real rally of endurance.
The most famous Mini model of all was the Mini Cooper S which was breathed on by performance guru, John Cooper.

But eventually Mini production stopped in 2000 as the old BMC had imploded, but the canny Germans bought up the rights to the name as they recognised its long and valuable brand loyalty.

BMW then built the new MINI which was, and is, a million miles away from the old and very noisy Mini, which was also very attractive to the old tin worm and in time Minis took on the appearance of a string vest!

The new MINI has the silhouette of the original but was extremely well built, has bigger engines and is quiet inside, and just big enough to be claimed as a small family car, so it became such an instant hit they sold like hotcakes.

And it was not long before a Cooper version was brought out to satisfy those who wanted more performance, and fi nally the MINI Cooper S which Crossfl ags of Dumfries kindled gave to me for an extended test.

As someone who had rallied in the old Mini in the 1960s and ‘70s I was pleasantly shocked, fi rstly by the quality build and then by the performance!

Dumpily butch and sitting on 17” wheels, the new MINI Cooper S looks the business and the power from the 1.6-litre, turbo-charged engine is hinted at by the twin exhaust pipes poking from the back, power which I was keen to explore!

The inside is Mini-retro which, like the old Mini has a central speedo which is humongous but the rev counter is in a pod behind the steering wheel with a computer speed read-out as well.
As in the old Mini, there are lots of toggle switches on the central console to control the excellent entertainment and air con systems, and from which sprouts the chunky gearstick for the six-speed ‘box, as well as the handbrake.

Quality is high with leather and grained plastic, plus cloth and enhanced by aluminium inserts and highlights, including an elliptical feature on the doors.

For those who want t be more funky, the seat swabs, door and dash leather facings can be red, blue, grey or cream, and for those who want to be frightfully British, English Oak can be specifi ed for handles and facings!

Room up front is generous and I easily found my perfect, arm semi-bent position, but the rear is, shall we say, a little more intimate and the boot is not really designed for the family holiday luggage.

But the buyers of the Cooper S are likely to be young, or young at heart and far more interested in the performance, as I was, so strapped in I headed to the Galloway Hills.

The engine produces 175bhp at 5,500rpm, with 240Nm of torque peaking much lower, around 1,800rpm which gives a sphincter-clenching 0 - 62mph fi gure of 7.1 secs or will hurl you down the autobahn at 140mph and thus provides somewhat interesting driving.

It is a willing engine which revs like a contented bumble bee with delicious sounds from the exhaust, and the slick gearbox swaps cogs in an instant, so enabling the driver to keep it ‘on cam’ and right in the power band.

The MINI’s handling, just like the old Mini, is in the roller-skate category, with tenacious grip and accurate steering which turns a series of fast bends into a fl at straight, needing only the smallest of steering inputs by a fl ick of the wrist.

There is so much power that in some ways it outperforms its chassis and with so much grunt going through the front wheels, one can feel the handling computers working overtime to try and counter the inevitable torque steer, at which point I was tempted to back off.

I didn’t and left the MINI to sort itself out, which it did safely but new buyers, not used to so much power through the front wheels, are advised to ‘gan cannily’ for a while until they master the technique.

However, the MINI Copper S is so tractable, it is just as happy to potter about, which I did on my return trip and dropped in at the delightful Hetland Hall Hotel, near Dumfries, a 19th century establishement brimming with history and charm.

The MINI Cooper S is a more than worthy replacement for the old Mini version which is a million times more sophisticated, extremely wellscrewed together and oozes whacky charm.

At £20k it’s hardly cheap but it is relatively economical with a 45mpg combine fi gure and is a sensible compromise between an urban car for nipping about, a long-legged motorway cruiser, and when required, a fun hooligan to let your hair down in!