Cool looks, Mini potential

The JCW Cooper Convertible is a handsome car, but its ride and handling have room for improvement

- Christopher Tan

A car like the Mini JCW Cooper Convertible should rightly appeal to boomers. After all, the Mini brand name shares their vintage and the original Mini — which began production in 1959 — could well have been the first car for many of them.

The nostalgic appeal would thus be a natural draw to the salt-and-pepper set, but they should steer clear of this particular Mini variant for two reasons.

One, the latest JCW Cooper Convertible is quite an uncomfortable ride — hard, harsh and punishingly jarring. This unyielding trait is made worse by the often poorly paved roads in Singapore. So, unless you are blessed with a bountiful posterior, this car is best left at the showroom.

Two, when driven with the roof up — which I reckon will be most of the time in hot-wet Singapore — there is a huge blind spot in the rear quarter. This makes it impossible to see oncoming traffic from the left when you are merging from a non-perpendicular road.