The new Mini Cooper lives up to the promise of its bulldog stance, legendary performance, and enthusiastic press reports. BMW has successfully melded the German and British car cultures, reaching back to the 1960s for the automotive icon of mod London. The new Mini has as much in common with the British car Americans loved in the '60s as the New Beetle has in common with the old Bug. The Mini Cooper has been reinvented for the 21st century and has returned to the U.S. much bigger and much better than the original.

Mini Cooper is the shortest car sold in America, but it's larger on the inside than on the outside. It totes four adults in surprisingly good comfort, even leaving room for stuff. Like all BMWs, it comes with advanced safety features and innovative engineering. Like the original, its uses front-wheel drive and a transverse-mounted (sideways) engine. But BMW employed a sophisticated suspension inspired by its rear-wheel-drive cars for superior handling, particularly on bumpy, curving roads.

BMW priced the Mini with an appreciation for real-world pocketbooks yet endowed it with a visual and physical opulence that ratchets up its value quotient. For 2003, there are no major changes.