MINI JCW HATCH

Photos give our man time to focus on the JCW's looks

- Alastair Crooks

THE MINI JCW’s looks haven't really been covered in great detail during my previous reports, though in truth, this is the reason why a lot of people will be drawn to it.

I first saw this generation of MINI back in 2022 when someone sneakily took a picture of an undisguised car. At first I wasn’t a huge fan of its back end, because the lights are a significant departure from older MINIs and they kind of reminded me of a bat’s wings.

The overall proportions of the latest all-electric MINI are lovely, thanks to it sitting on a bespoke electric architecture. But while this petrol-powered MINI has a new ‘F66-generation’ designation, it’s essentially a heavy update of the previous MINI’s platform.

As a result, the styling - which aims to mimic the EV’s — isn’t quite as cleanly integrated, especially as the front, which gives the JCW a rather bulbous look.

But while I've been living with the MINI JCW, the looks have started to win me over, evidenced by the fact I’ve taken 389 pictures of the JCW on my phone over the past seven months, which I think is more than all the previous fleet cars I've had combined.

There is an issue, however: I've found myself becoming a bit irritated by non-JCW MINIs fitted with the optional £2,200 Sport Pack. Not only are these cars almost identical inside with the same sports seats, gold-coloured trim and John Cooper Works badging, they also add a JCW-style bodykit, with the only distinguishable difference being the fantastic central exhaust pipe.