2010 Mini Cooper JCW Convertible

Lots of fun, lots of cheekiness, lots of style here; also lots of money. No, thanks, to the John Cooper Works package in the Mini convertible; as Zenlea says, get the Cooper S convertible, choose your options wisely, and keep the price below $30,000. That's not to say that our loaded and expensive test car wasn't appealing. With its fuchsia paint job, blacked-out wheels, and $204 checkered-flag decals on the rearview mirror exterior housings, this thing got noticed on the streets of Ann Arbor. Like Jablansky, I was bothered by the poor rear visibility, but one learns to compensate. What really impressed me was how quickly the fully automatic top goes down and back up: less than 20 seconds, I believe. And the way you can first retract the front part of the roof, then decide whether you want the entire roof to go down, is brilliant. Joe DeMatio, Deputy Editor