Britain’s new Mini has been named ‘car of the year’ in the motor industry ‘Oscars.’
The all-new third-generation version of the small but sporty runaround was named Auto Express Car of the Year 2014 at a lavish ceremony in the Grand Connaught Rooms in London’s West End.
The new Mini is built in Oxford with engines made in Hams Hall near Birmingham and body panels coming from Swindon.
As well as winning the overall Car of the Year Award, the Mini was also named Best Premium Small Car.
The car is priced from £12,000 to £26,000 depending on model and specification, and judges said: 'Like its predecessors, the new car has the cheeky looks, classy cabin and fun driving experience we've come to expect.
But it combines this with a new-found sophistication and an array of gadgets aimed at making you safer and more comfortable.'
They added: 'For the first time ever the British machine boasts the sort of comfort and refinement that makes light of long motorway marathons. Then there's the huge array of aids normally reserved for executive models that cost thousands more.'
These include a head-up display on the windscreen, forward collision alert and adaptive cruise control which brakes if you are too close to the car in front, and speeds up again when there's enough space.
Auto Express editor-in-chief, Steve Fowler said: 'The Mini is the perfect Car of the Year for 2014. It's a small car that’s big on talent. We love the way it drives, the quality, the efficiency and the big-car tech on board. It's also built brilliantly in Britain – a car the UK can be proud of.'
Car of the year
Car of the year
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Car of teh year
I was thinking about getting a mini. It would be fun to drive and extremely easy to park. It's kind of small though... BUT, if I was out in my mini on a short cruise and wanted to have a little fun and have a small encounter, I've heard it's quite a midget magnet... 
Re: Car of the year
Excuse me while I drive an ice pick through my mind's eye...if I was out in my mini on a short cruise and wanted to have a little fun
Re: Car of the year
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan
~ Carl Sagan