km : Passing Lane

When we recently wrote about the original Mini Cooper, we got a good sense of how a 40-year-old design can get along in today’s motoring world. We also briefly covered the story of Alec Issigonis, and how the Mini came to be, which is certainly something to celebrate. With the 50th anniversary of the official presentation of the original Mini passing last August, Mini did just that, and launched two special edition packages for the 2010 model year. We drove one half of those models, the Mini 50 Camden back in December, but didn’t get a ride to see what the Mini 50 Mayfair was all about until just recently.

We’re told to never judge a book by its cover, but in the case of the two “Mini 50” special editions, the names tell us a lot. Both are named for boroughs in London, reinforcing their distinctly English heritage, and both names are very fitting for the packages they adorn. The Camden, like the borough from which it borrows its name, is hip and trendy, with features like Mission Control, an in-car entertainment system that pushed the boundaries of how we interact with our cars. Mayfair, however, is home to Saville Row, Oxford Street, and Old Bond Street, some of the classiest and most understated locales in the Old World’s greatest city.


The Mayfair ditches all the gimmickry and kitschiness of the Camden; gone is the Cockney man strongly urging you to ease up if the engine isn’t just so, and we’re thankful for that. The Mayfair wears the automotive equivalent of a finely tailored Saville Row suit. The car reflects the same subtle refinement that defines the section of town after which it is named. Offered only in Hot Chocolate Metallic — like the one we tested — white, or black, the car simply can’t be had in any of the bright, electrified colors that typically adorn a Mini. The only visual cues that this car is something special is a “Mini 50” badge on the grille — matching that on the Camden &mdash and “Mayfair” badges on the fenders, next to the turn indicators.

The 17-inch wheels are exclusive to the Mayfair, sporting a traditional multi-spoke design, and they can even be finished in white at no additional charge. Ours came with hood stripes finished in “Toffee” color, which is a tasteful, lighter brown that complements the paintwork on which it was applied, and offers a sportsman’s aesthetic to the car. Rounding it out, the mirror caps are finished in a brown-to-black fade with toffee pinstripes — as if lifted from a bespoke suit — running vertically throughout for a finished feel.

Inside, the effect from the mirror caps carries over to the color line running the width of the dash. The toffee color from the hood stripes is also brought inside, covering the full-leather seats, door panels, and the interior rim of the two-tone steering wheel. The seats are finished with piping (how very British!) in white leather, while turquoise stitching runs throughout the interior, accenting the seats, shift boot, and e-brake cover the way a mildly obnoxious pocket square offers the perfect finishing touch to a conservative business suit.


The Cooper S we tested may have out-handled the full leather seats, leaving us wanting for the grippier cloth found in the Camden, or at least higher bolsters as we dove into kind of corners that a Mini so much prefers. But keeping with the tradition of Mayfair (the borough), we think behavior like that would make many-a-monocle fall out, so this may not be the car to do it in.

We fully agree that the 50th anniversary of the iconic Mini is worthy of celebration, and now that we’ve had the chance to drive both celebratory models, we think Mini threw a fitting shindig. The only thing left to figure out is which model more fits your fancy. The yobbo from Camden who just won’t keep quiet, or the understated class from Mayfair, which is more content trundling along without anyone really noticing.

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