Mini celebrates 30 years of alfresco driving with the Mini Convertible Seaside Edition



Mini has unveiled a new special edition model for the Mini Convertible, dubbed Seaside Edition, to celebrate 30 years of top down, hair in the wind driving. Sounds like a decent idea, since anniversary models are the hottest new trend these days, but there’s just one problem… the convertible Mini is not actually 30 years old (thanks, The Autopian!).

If you trace the Mini Convertible to its original roots, it technically goes back all the way to 1991. And if our math is correct, that’s actually 32 years ago, not the 30 like Mini suggests. The full story can be found in The Autopian‘s write-up, but for now let’s skip the pedantics and just assume Mini had their reasons…

Anyway, the Seaside Edition gets several exterior aesthetic touches to mark it out as the anniversary model, including the 18-inch Pulse Spoke two-tone wheels, unique scuttle plates, decorative stripes along the sides, as well special graphics on the front apron that vaguely looks like “30” if you squint really hard.

The Mini Convertible will only be offered in two exterior colours: Carribean Aqua, and Nanuq white if you’re feeling boring.

READ MORE: Stand out from the crowd with the new MINI Convertible Sidewalk Edition – RM286K

Inside, the Seaside Edition features edition-specific decorative trim stripes on the dashboard, alongside the ’30’ graphic badge on the floor mat, steering wheel, as well as a unique key fob.

In the UK, the Mini Convertible Seaside Edition will only be offered with the Cooper S specification, which means a 2.0-litre turbocharged inline-four mill underneath the bonnet, making 178 hp and 280 Nm of torque (lower than the 192 hp that we get here due to the Euro 6d emissions standard), translating to a 0-100 km/h sprint time of 7.2 seconds.

The Seaside Edition is priced at GBP34,500 (approx RM183k) in the UK, some 5,000 quids more expensive than the base, entry-level Mini Convertible Cooper S.


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