2005 Mini Cooper Convertible

BMW has made "Mini" an adjective. "This is a very 'Mini' restaurant," a P.R. exec said of the chic, cool, colorful Parisian eatery where we hung out before flying south to drive the Cooper ragtop. The Cannes Film Festival underway at the time is "very Mini convertible." So we skipped part of the twisty, hilly press-drive route through Provence--much more "Mini Cooper S hatchback"--in search of starlets and budding directors.

Mini had no 170-horsepower Cooper S convertibles on this first drive, although the Cooper S and Cooper convertibles launch together in September. The ragtop is as much of a go-kart as the tintop, heading where you point it with lightning quick, precise steering. It has minimal cowl quiver, only on the worst of washboard roads. Mini reinforces the A-pillars, rocker panels, and middle and rear crossmembers and adds front-structure tiebars and an elaborate, fixed-aluminum rollhoop behind the rear seat. The soft-top curls back like the canvas sunroof on an old Renault, with the push of a button, a nice touch for semi-open freeway driving. Keep pressing, and the automatic top folds into a neat accordion in 15 seconds. Raising it doesn't take much longer.

With the added weight, the Cooper gains fashion, retains its good handling, and loses some pep. The convertible (at 2591 pounds in Euro trim) is 221 pounds heavier than the Cooper hatch. Mini publishes a 0-to-62-mph time of "a mere 9.8 seconds," redefining "mere." It struggles most at the lower and upper ends, with some progress in the midrange. But the Cooper convertible is quick enough when the sun is shining and the top is down on the Cote d'Azur; the extra weight hurts acceleration most out of apexes on those mountain roads.

Rear park assist is standard, as the top compromises rearward visibility (as well as trunk space). The top doesn't stack as high as a VW New Beetle's, but you can't see past it easily. With the top up, the smaller (than the coupe's) rear window and the fixed rear rollhoop make you feel like you're looking back through an odd assortment of Buick portholes. The trunk is good for only a couple of dufflebags, unless you fold the rear seats. None of this diminishes the Cooper convertible's ample appeal. With two of its 10 paint choices--Hot Orange and Cool Blue--as exclusive colors, the option of interior trim repeating one of four paint choices, plus a black, blue, or green top, the colorful Mini is irresistible.