Mighty Mini

A big round of applause for rally extraordinaire Stephane Peterhansel, the X-Raid team, and the Mini Countryman ALL4 for winning the Dakar 2012 outright!

Defeating the likes of Bowler Wildcats, Red Bull VW Touaregs, and Hummer H2's, the Countryman ALL4 crossed the finish line with all the swagger of its ancestor:

However, this does not change just how much bigger in size Mini has gotten with the introduction of its first 4-door, all wheel driver model.

Take a look at what the Mini was all about back in the old days. Shot by Pete Fullarton, directed and edited by Lucy Armitage, this short video was produced for the Glasgow Riverside Museum to celebrate the original Mini's revolutionary design. Check out more of Lucy Armitage's work here. Enjoy!

Secret to Success

A couple of weeks ago, we wondered whether BMW's ever expanding line-up, from their efforts to fill niches created by their rivals to creating even more niches like the 5-series GT to answer questions that no one bothered to ask, were in fact sullying their core DNA.

To this, IEDEI reflected disappointment, "...a confused and uninspired marque that is trying way too many things at the same time----with different ideas and scattered attention span... I really miss the BMW that I grew up loving in the 80s and early 90s, I hope it comes back someday..."

Well this weekend, I've got another bone to pick. All this time, and I blame my ignorance, I believed that the Cygnet was only available to existing Aston owners who wishes to own another vehicle that would better suit day to day city driving. It isn't. I also believed that Aston Martin would never sell out their image as supreme builders of GT cars and that their position behind the Cygnet was simply a project used to curve their thirsty lineup just enough as to not offend Europe's CO2 regulations or our CAFE standards (2012 NHTSA: 31.7 mpg).