MINI John Cooper Works GP II revealed

MINI John Cooper Works GP II

MINI has revealed what they say is the fastest MINI ever – the MINI John Cooper Works GP II. Just 2,000 will be built.

Last month we reported that MINI were planning a John Cooper Works GP II as a swansong for the current generation of MINI, and today it’s been revealed. Well, kind of.

MINI don’t seem to want us to know exactly what the JCW GP II can actually manage in the performance stakes, preferring to be cagey by declaring the GP II as ‘The fastest MINI ever built’ (by which we’re assuming the fastest MINI that MINI has ever built) and that it can get round the Nurburgring in 8:23s – a full 19 seconds faster than the original MINI GP.

Just 2,000 MINI GP II cars are going to be built with butch new bumpers, side skirts, roof spoiler and underbody diffuser with a splash of red on the brake vents, bonnet intakes, door mirrors and bonnet with GP graphics down the side and on the bonnet. Inside you lose the back seats – just as you did in the original MINI GP – and get sports seats up front.

To make the MINI GP II warm to its stated task, MINI has given the chassis adjustable race suspension, a race-spec brake system and racing tyres and special alloys.

We have no idea how much extra power MINI has managed to add in the GP II – if any – but the lower weight will make it quicker than a regular JCW in any case.

The MINI JCW GP II is getting its public debut this weekend at Le Castellet in France and should arrive in MINI UK showrooms in the next few months at a price probably the wrong side of £25k.