John

First Look: 2020 Mini John Cooper Works GP

Palm Springs, CALIFORNIAHardtop, soft-top, wagon or coupe, Minis come in more flavours than ice cream. Few Minis, however, have been bonkers-fast or able to attack a race track as well as other front-wheel-drive cars like the Honda Civic Type R or Golf GTI Clubsport, to name just a few.Sure, the 2012 MINI John Cooper Works GP and the 2006 MINI Cooper S with John Cooper Works GP kit were tantalizing and speedy cars for their time.Built in limited numbers, they were quick enough to become sought-after jewels in the Mini portfolio. But neither were able to crack the 8-minute mark at the worlds benchmark for speed the Nürburgring’s legendary Nordschleife circuit in Germany.The 2020 Mini GP, however, scraps all that and sets a new benchmark for the brand, becoming the fastest, most powerful Mini ever produced for on-road use able to run the Ring in an impressive 7:56.69. Thats BMW M2 territory. Priced at $51,990 in Canada and limited to 59 units for the Great White North, only 3,000 Mini GPs will be produced worldwide. At BMWs Performance Center West test track in California, the 2020 Mini GP starts with a low gurgle that could be louder for us juveniles. Powered by a 2.0-litre four-cylinder in-line turbocharged engine with 302 horsepower and 332 lb.-ft. of torque going only to the front wheels, the GP feels remarkably at home on the track. A larger-volume intake, free-flowing exhaust and a tweaked turbocharger help boost power, and an upgraded oil and cooling system help keep internals from overheating. The suspension has been reinforced for track use and rigidity.Check Out All Our Latest Auto Show CoverageMini says the new JCW GP will sprint to 100 km/h in 5.1 seconds. To be sure, the GP stays flat in the corners and brakes hard before the turns. Its more than enough car to compete with the Honda Civic Type R, yet exudes a lot more class.First seen in Frankfurt in 2017 as a concept, and then again at the 24 Hours of Nrburgring last summer in a camo-wrapped version that ran around the track as a teaser to the real thing coming this spring, the 2020 production version was revealed to us a day ahead of its world-wide reveal at the L.A. Auto Show, looking a lot like the original prototype. And what a cool-looking car it is, cutting a silhouette that looks part aircraft, part racing machine, part sea serpent. A massive carbon-fibre front apron, flared wheel arches, carbon-fibre side skirts with moulded air deflectors crowned by a prominent roof spoiler underscore the fact this is not your divorced aunts car. Black Jack Anthracite paint is complimented by Curbside Red metallic bits to accentuate the racing look.Theres a bit of boy racer here, but it still looks good while still looking like a Mini. Elliptical headlights and a hexagonal honeycomb grille sharpen its identity. The 19-inch wheels look perfect in the wheel arches.Unfortunately, there is no manual transmission, only an eight-speed automatic with manual shift mode and paddle shifters the same gearbox that resides in the Countryman and Clubman. But the transmission has been modified to meet the demands of the GP, and the mechanical limited-slip differential helps with traction.A 64-36 weight balance to the front keeps understeer to a minimum. Acceleration is strong but never overwhelming. The biggest take away is the go-cart handling that, with proper tires, makes the GP a proper track car that can still be driven to the mall on Sundays.Inside, the rear bench seat is conspicuous by its absence. Luxury touches abound in the black-and-white knitted seats. A digital instrument cluster and heads-up display makes relevant information easy to see and digest. The suspension can be adjusted with the touch of a button. Traditional MINI toggle switches with start/stop button maintain some footing in the analog world.While all Minis bring a degree of fun to driving, the GP raises the stakes with track credentials that should elevate the brand, and the car, to a status not seen since the last GP in
Origin: First Look: 2020 Mini John Cooper Works GP

We plotted out the saga of John Cena’s Ford GT and its sales

John Cenas 2017 Ford GT crossing the Mecum Auctions block in Dallas in October 2018Mecum Auctions By the time Mecum Auctions announced February 2019 that it’d be selling John Cena’s 2017 Ford GT again, the car had already traded hands four times, and it was getting hard to keep track. Normally we wouldn’t care about how often the thing got passed between owners, but this is, after all, a model Ford had specifically told its buyers could not be sold for 24 months after purchase. That’s late 2019 at the earliest, in the case of Cena’s car. To complicate things, there is, of course, also that second GT crossing auction blocks against Ford’s wishes. We thought it was time to sort out both cars’ sordid sagas. To that end we’ve plotted them on this simple-to-follow timeline, along with major GT production milestones. But if you need a little background first, we can catch you up, too. The new GT is, to make an understatement, unlike any other Ford that’s come before it. From the performance specs to the manufacturing methods, the Blue Oval’s never put a car together like this. Getting your hands on one is different, too: Ford decided to, like Ferrari and other boutique automakers, hand-select the owner of each new GT built. You had to throw your application in with 6,505 other enthusiasts, and if you had the right stuff, you’d get a thumbs up and put on the list for one of the 500 cars Ford planned to build (after you forked over more than US$450,000, of course). Ford added a clause to its buyers’ contracts keeping them from selling the car for two years, so that people couldn’t flip the hard-to-get high-end supercars for their own profit. But then John Cena let his go. After just a few days with the car, the wrestler and entertainer sold the car for a little more than what he paid for, and suddenly this car you couldn’t just get—could be got, for the right price. Then a second silver GT hit the open market, and before long it and Cena’s car were on auction blocks around the U.S. selling for millions, and Ford was launching legal action against anyone involved in their sale. You can pick up the timeline from there.
Origin: We plotted out the saga of John Cena’s Ford GT and its sales