Mini Hatch 2021: Paddy Hopkirk Edition celebrates rally heritage

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As Mini prepares to welcome its facelifted Hatch in the second half of 2021, the iconically British but German-owned carmaker has dropped a special edition to mark its first rally win.

Dubbed the Paddy Hopkirk Edition, this special edition is named after the driver who wielded his classic Mini Cooper S to take down far more powerful rivals and win the Monte Carlo Rally in 1964.

Mini Australia will bring a total of 65 cars to Australia, available as a Cooper S and John Cooper Works (JCW) with three-doors, or a five-door Cooper S.

The Paddy Hopkirk Edition is expected to arrive in Australian showrooms in March and will be available exclusively in Chili Red with a white roof, with contrasting piano black inserts.

Mini has embraced its rally heritage with a pair of auxiliary headlights along with a white racing stripe on the left side and iconic number 37 on the driver and passenger doors.

The Cooper S variants are also fitted with features such as an 8.8-inch touchscreen and Harman Kardon sound system with 17-inch John Cooper Works ‘Track’ wheels finished in black.

Under the bonnet, the Hatch Cooper S remains unchanged with a turbocharged four-cylinder engine making 141kW of power and 280Nm of torque. That’s coupled to a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission that sends power exclusively to the front wheels.

The John Cooper Works is only available in a three-door model but gains bigger 18-inch ‘Style 506’ rims in gloss black and niceties such as adaptive LED headlights and adaptive cruise control.

The beefier 170kW/320Nm turbocharged four-cylinder is matched to an eight-speed torque-converter automatic. Power is identical to the regular Cooper JCW though that car’s pace was never anything to sneeze at with a 0-100km/h time of 6.1 seconds.

Mini Australia says it will be bringing 25 examples of the three and five-door Cooper S models, and just 15 of the three-door JCW cars.

The Paddy Hopkirk limited editions are now available to order online.

Mini Hatch Paddy Hopkirk Edition: prices in Australia

All prices listed are before on-road costs.

Cooper S 3-Door: $54,800
Cooper S 5-Door: $56,400
John Cooper Works 3-door: $69,000