RUMOUR: PEUGEOT 208 GTI RACING IN THE PIPELINE

One of the cars we really like is the new 147kW Peugeot 208 GTI. It has real guts and combines these with great interior comforts (except for the driving position), plus good pricing. Now there’s a rumour that a 208 GTI Racing is in the works.

PACEY MINI PACEMAN JCW ANNOUNCED

The MINI Paceman is listed as a “go” for BMW South Africa in 2013. That’s the good news. The better news is that it comes in huffing JCW form too and that will of course be available for the Mzansi market as well. The Paceman, in case you didn’t know, is what one might call a two-door version of the Countryman. It’s a kind of coupe small SUV.

3-DOOR MINI PACEMAN NOW OFFICIAL!

MINI owner BMW has now extended its “Sports Activity” moniker to the British-born brand. The new MINI Paceman is being marketed as a Sports Activity Coupe, the first of its kind in the small premium segment. Paceman is essentially a chopped-off Countryman that keeps the same number of seats but cuts off on the number of doors.

MINI JOHN COOPER WORKS GP BREAKS LOOSE!

MINI South Africa has announced that the sportiest production MINI ever is on its way, and will be in Mzansi by March 2013. The MINI John Cooper Works GP will be limited to only 2000 units worldwide, so we think Mzansi might only get an allocation of around 30 or so. The lucky 30 will no doubt be quite pleased with the package.

NEW MINI COOPER JCW GP EDITION CONFIRMED

2005 MINI Cooper JCW GP

Rumours of a new MINI John Cooper Works GP edition surfaced a couple of months ago. Now it seems these are actually true, judging from a statement issued by MINI. A brand new JCW GP will debut at the MINI United Festival this May in Le Castellet in France.

BOMBASTIC BEETLE R BLOWS L.A.

Beetle part 3 is on its way to Mzansi. Exactly which month in 2012 is still unknown, but certainly this is a very welcome new addition to the mix. Could there be a high-performance version later? Perhaps. The LA Auto Show saw Volkswagen unveil this Beetle R Concept, a very sporty kind of a Beetle.

MINI ROADSTER UNVEILED, SLATED FOR 2012

The year 2012 sees a hive of activity for BMW in South Africa. One of these activities will involve the launch of the all-new MINI Roadster, which is of course related to the Coupe, except for the hard roof. Roadster will share identical mechanicals, engines, colours, interior features and so on with its Coupe brother. Everything except the roof.

JIMS 2011: MINI UNCOVERS PACEMAN, COUPE

MINI unveiled two of its arsenal pieces at the 2011 Johannesburg International Motor Show (JIMS). One is the all-new MINI Coupe, while the other was a concept called the Paceman. Both are headed to Mzansi at different points in time. We expect the Coupe here before year end, while the Paceman could still be a year away.

MINI COUPE IN FULL STRENGTH AND DETAIL

MINI has broken out details of the all-new MIINI Coupé. It’s so called because it only has two seats! Yes, there are no rear seats at all in this MINI, which means only you and one other passenger are allowed to ride. And with three strong engines for the South African market, it will sure bring out plenty of reaction in the market.

MINI'S NEW RALLY JCW CAR UNCOVERED AT GENEVA 2011

On Tuesday, the 81st International Geneva Motor Show (CH) provided the stage for MINI to unveil the MINI John Cooper Works S2000 – the latest milestone on the road to the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC). This is the forerunner to the MINI John Cooper Works WRC, which the MINI WRC Team will entrust to drivers Dani Sordo (ES) and Kris Meeke (GB) for its debut in the premier category of rallying in Rally Italy from 5 – 8 May 2011.

NEW AUDI A1 HATCH DRIVEN IN MPUMALANGA

We miss the concrete pillar by what seems to me only half a centimetre, yet racing ace Phillip Kekana appear unperturbed. Only now is he getting into the second half of his story, a story he started telling me just before this mini underground gymkana. While it could be the set of Italian Job 2, this is the Mzansi launch of the new Audi A1 premium hatch.