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2007 Mini cooper

The all-new 2007 Mini Cooper builds on the car's legacy
Nitin Nair in Dubai

On a gridlocked Sunday morning on Dubai's busy thoroughfares, mammoth container trucks on either side dwarf the new 2007 Mini Cooper I'm driving.

Traffic's crawled to a standstill, but there's a flurry of sepia-toned images that are racing through my head now. Images from during the energy crisis in the 1950s in England where a petrol-starved nation is hungry for more fuel-efficient modes of transport. The British Motor Company (BMC), troubled by the increasing imports of European 'bubble cars' asks their engineer Alec Issigonis to come up with a fuel efficient, practical compact car. The result was the Mini, first released in 1959 - a car that would become an instant hit, a cultural icon and a spiffy fashion accessory in the years to come.

The car's then quirky design - wide track, short overhangs caught the attention of racing whiz John Cooper, who realised the agile handling of car would be ideal for motorsport. He approached BMC to build a high performance variant of the car, the resulting Mini Cooper went on to become a part of motorsport legend winning scores of rallies including the Monte Carlo rally in the 60s.

Soon everyone from Enzo Ferrari to Steve McQueen was spotted driving a Mini. The car spawned a cult following, something that well-known American auto writer Craig Cheetham observed was largely due to the car's unique personality. "Whether that's for a good or bad reason doesn't matter – if it stays in your memory or fires up nostalgia, it's a cult car," Cheetham once said.

Right now, Dubai's labyrinthine roadways seemed ideal to try out the all-new 2007 Mini Cooper's legendary handling. Nosing my way through traffic, the car's 1.6 litre, 120hp engine and automatic six-speed transmission responds well to sudden demands of acceleration. Like a Formula One driver, on automatic cars, you also have the option of paddle shifting gears from the steering wheel.

Unlike the makeover the Mini got at the hands of BMW in 2001, the changes to the 2007 edition are very subtle. For starters, the car's longer, but only by around 60mm. But because the proportions remain the same, the difference in size is not really noticed.

The most significant change upfront are the round clear glass headlights that now accommodates the direction indicators. The front radiator grill is now one unit – no longer split up into two sections, one on the engine compartment lid and one at the front end of the car. The new radiator grill is more reminiscent of the classic Mini, something that goes well with chief designer Gert Hildebrand's philosophy ‘from the original to the original’. The new designs derives from the classic Mini like never before.

The new Mini has a round, electronic signal transmitter instead of the new conventional ignition key. Insert the transmitter into the shaft next to the steering wheel and the engine starts with the press of the button.

While the exterior changes are subtle, the interior sports a radical new look. At the centre of this, literally, is the new speedometre - big, round and totally cool. Apart from the retro-styled analogue face, the centre speedo now incorporates audio controls and navigation functions. Like in motorsport, the rev metre sits behind the steering wheel and the controls in the centre stack are all toggle switches. But, as much as I love the aesthetics of the new centre speedo, the thought to glancing sideways to check if I am speeding is a nag I could without.

But before I go on to the interiors, know this. Issigonis, an eccentric man, thought little about passenger comfort, and once said "I would like people to sit on nails - to be extremely uncomfortable all the time." Now, the new Mini's interiors are quite cosy, the designers have taken no cues from Issigonis, no nails here. The interiors are cosy, seats are comfortable and there is leg-room in the front seat. As an optional increase, ambient lighting can also be hadded to the interiors of the car. It is not the most spacious of cars, but then nobody buys a Mini with the intention of taking huge families out on weekend picnics. Besides, the making of cars for mass exodus is largely the prerogative of American companies.

Over the years part of Mini Cooper's appeal has been its incredible go-kart feel. Mini owes this to to its wide track, low centre of gravity and short overhangs. In everyday life this means hitting roundabouts is a lot more fun. A word about safety here - the cars come fitted with six airbags as standard fitting.

Like the re-invented Beetle, the Mini has today moved away from what it was originally meant to be - an inexpensive, practical everyday car. Instead the all new Mini Cooper is a techno-sophisticate with a cheeky attitude, a car that is also a lifestyle statement. And at being the latter, the Mini stands heads and shoulders above its contemporaries and Japanese imitations.