Apparently there are still some Brits at Mini, because their apology letter for sending a car out without its paddle shifters was one of the best we've ever seen. What if Germans had written it instead?

One of our readers is the proud owner of a 2013 Mini Cooper JCW which, as part of its package of goodies, gets a set of paddle-shifters mounted behind the steering wheel… except Mini forgot to attach them. Their hilarious apology for this oversight blames an overzealous car and the Mayan calendar.

I've spent the past couple of days in the deserts of Abu Dhabi - not far from the border with the 'women drivers will eradicate virgins' kingdom of Saudi Arabia - checking out the X-raid MINI team whilst they test their 2014 Dakar contender.

Like their corporate parent BMW, Mini has been on an expansion binge in recent years, adding new cars and SUVs to their lineup as if the automobile itself is somehow on the way out and they need to make as much money as they can before they have to find new jobs. Now they're realizing they may have gone too far.

MINI arrived to the 'States 11 years ago, and they just sold their 500.000th US car. It was a Paceman.

Handbrake-sliding a classic Mini into a parking spot just five inches longer than the car itself is a little absurd, but it is impressive.

The motoring press keeps complaining how Mini is turning its lineup into a bloated mess with pointless cars, to which Mini responds by making even more of them. Meet the new Mini Paceman JCW.

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When you make energy drinks, it's not enough to just sell them to the general public. You have to sponsor crazy activities so people know you're serious about the energy in your drink. Red Bull has a couple of Formula One teams and once made a guy jump out of a space balloon; now Monster Energy had a rally driver do…

If you don't follow the news in Europe, you may not know that the Old World is embroiled in a scandal where a growing amount of beef has been found to contain horsemeat in it. Never ones to eschew clever and edgy advertising, Mini has something to say about it too, and it's great.