BMW installs forced air in its Oxford saltbox

No less than 39 years after the first Mini Cooper S blatted its way into the annals of motoring history with its John Cooper-tuned 70-hp Series A BMC engine, the new Cooper S rises from the carnage of BMW's disastrous British dalliance sporting 161 bucking horsepower from a supercharged 1.6-liter cyclone.
One wonders what Paddy Hopkirk and the boys would have accomplished in the '63 Monte with all that power and a six-speed gearbox to control it. Or how the lads over at John Cooper Garages would have snickered into their pints every time they heard a BMW executive say, "Mee-nee Coo-pah."
No matter. Amusing twists of history aside, the new Cooper S is a grin on gatorbacks, a marvelous lunch box packed with tantalizing Bavarian sweets and decorated on all sides with updated images of Britain's best automotive icon.

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