Some driving purists will tell you every car is better with a manual transmission. Others will concede that perhaps the minivan and the full-size pickup don’t need to be more engaging. But a Mini? A Mini, many fans believe, begs for the intense level of driver involvement you get from controlling the shifts yourself.
If you’ve always secretly wanted a manual transmission Mini, though, you’ll need to move quickly. A new report says the brand most associated with the stick is planning to lose the stick.
Stefanie Wurst, head of the Mini brand at BMW Group, told the U.K.’s Top Gear yesterday that the next-generation Mini Cooper unveiled this week marks the end of Mini’s love affair with the clutch pedal.
The company unveiled the car as an electric vehicle (EV) but is expected to offer gas-powered versions as well. But, Wurst says, “We won’t have a manual, unfortunately.”
It’s a surprising business decision. The Drive reports, “The customer take rate for the current Mini John Cooper Works with a manual transmission is 45%.” But parent company BMW hopes to take Mini all-electric by 2030. Electric cars and manual transmissions don’t mix unless engineers are willing to Frankenstein something together (in the background, Lexus cackles like a mad scientist).
Shifting aficionados still have options, at least for now. When Mini revealed the 2024 Mini John Cooper Works 1TO6 Edition earlier this summer, they didn’t officially label it a goodbye salute to the stick. But it’s now clear that that’s exactly what the special edition is. It starts at $45,300, plus $995 for destination and handling, and announces your love for 3-pedal driving to the world with stripes consisting of the Mini shift pattern interlaced together thousands of times.
