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Anderson Valley, Ft. Bragg, Lake County, & Lake Berryessa Overnight Run - June 24-25, 2023

Cruising North of the SF Bay through wine & beer country, rocky Pacific coastline, redwood forests, inland lakes, & finishing in Dav...

First Generation MINI GP: A UK Bargain Hero

Top Gear extols the virtues of the original MINI GP and awards it the title "Bargain Hero":
Hot hatch specials are all the rage nowadays. Fast Golfs, Meganes and Abarths are only too happy to bin the non-essentials – like back seats – in the hunt for speed, precision and trackday paddock kudos.

Beating VW, Renault and Fiat to it, though, was Mini, with the Cooper S Works GP. Limited to 2,000 cars, with around 450 coming to the UK, it was pieced together by Italian coachbuilder Bertone for maximum speciality.

It cost £22,000 new, but nowadays you can pick one up for less than half that. Read on to see if that’s a good idea…