My choice was a combination of the cheaper insurance, better MPG, smoother ride quality and the ability to spec it up to the eyeballs whilst still coming in cheaper than a basic Cooper..

There's also the later option of the superchip upgrade and tweaking the suspension to bring it in line with the Coopers. 9 out of 10 people I've spoken to about the cars didn't even know there were 2 versions of the MINI, so having the Cooper wouldn't have been a 'status' thing for me either (I only have a vague understanding of the history of the Cooper/Mini association as it is!

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I wasn't too struck with the colour options for the Coopers either (although the Silver and Black combo catches my eye every time). I saw an article in AutoExpress back in April of last year which had a picture of a Yellow ONE and I fell for it straight away and ordered the car there and then.
I could have had a basic Cooper in Silver and Black for not much more than the price of my ONE, and I could have had it a month or so earlier, due to the Yellow paint being a late entry, but I'm glad I waited. As my car is used for daily work runs on the motorway the early reviews of the Cooper's suspension being a little harsh gave me the push I wanted to go for the ONE instead. I think at the time I ordered it the matching roof colour option on the Coopers wasn't available either and I think that the Yellow roof works well in contrast with the darker windows.
I have fond memories of owning 2 classic Mini's which were bought for the same reason Millions of people have owned one - they're cheap and cheerful, and I remember thinking when I saw the Cooper and ONE's together that for me, the Cooper wasn't really 'in keeping' with the whole 'peoples car' ethos.
(oops, this sounds like it's turning into a bit of a rant...but it's not meant that way!..

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If I'd been in charge of the product range I would have released just the one model, but given a whole range of options for different tuned engines, roof colours, suspension etc - that way you could be individual without people knowing about it (does that make sense?

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