I’ve been reviewing and writing about film, and often music, for 18 years now. This is the first time someone has asked my opinion on a car, bless them, and my first thought was, who doesn’t love a Mini?

Since the Morris Mini Minor hit the streets in 1959, the MINI has enjoyed enduring appeal. Most people have a MINImoment, whether you remember Paddy Hopkirk winning the Monte Carlo Rally in 1964, or watching the caper classic The Italian Job for the first time. It was the perfectly formed small car your grandmother picked you up from primary school in, and for many Kiwis’ of a certain generation, one of the stars of the classic New Zealand road trip movie, Goodbye Pork Pie. 

I’ve been reviewing and writing about film, and often music, for 18 years now. This is the first time someone has asked my opinion on a car, bless them, and my first thought was, who doesn’t love a MINI?

Since the Morris Mini Minor hit the streets in 1959, the MINI has enjoyed enduring appeal. Most people have a MINI moment, whether you remember Paddy Hopkirk winning the Monte Carlo Rally in 1964, or watching the caper classic The Italian Job for the first time. It was the perfectly formed small car your grandmother picked you up from primary school in, and for many Kiwis’ of a certain generation, one of the stars of the classic New Zealand road trip movie, Goodbye Pork Pie. 

Of all the retro cars, the MINI brand has always intrigued me. Timeless and with an aesthetic all of it’s own, it doesn’t matter who is driving this car – it just looks cool. 

So, would I like to try one? You betcha. 

Channeling my own MINI moment, it seemed only appropriate to indulge my nostalgic state by taking on the MINI Cooper S, known as The New Original. It’s the modern day version of the car Gerry and John drove from Kaitaia to Invercargill in Goodbye Pork Pie - I’m even in a car the same colour. 

To me, the MINI represents the underdog, the compact car that punches above its weight. I also love how it’s evolved over the years without ever loosing its distinctive shape, showing, I guess, just how fond the world is of this cult British brand. 

However, it quickly becomes apparent that while the basics of the MINI, designed originally by Sir Alec Issigonis, have not changed over the years, this is not the same car the ‘Blondini gang’ outran the New Zealand coppers in, in 1981. 

When you first slip into a 2015 MINI Cooper S for the first time, several things hit you. First, the dashboard looks like something out of sci-fi adventure Interstellar, with it’s multiple chrome, futuristic circular display screens. Second, it’s surprisingly roomy, with generous drink holders and feet room, and, third, the large comfortable seats have excellent lumber support ‘the sort of support that would get standing ovation from an osteopath? 

I could have sat in this car and never left. 

The leather-lined steering wheel (wish I owned driving gloves) is surrounded by instruments, dials and switches that do what you’d expect of a car, and more. At first it’s overwhelming, but function follows form, so while it looks sophisticated, everything works efficiently and simply. 

It’s hard to ignore the large Mini Centre Instrument sitting in between the drivers and passenger’s seats. With a tablet sized screen and touch control this device has a USB interface for your phone and Bluetooth allowing you to Tweet from your car and stay in touch with friends via Facebook. Not while driving obviously. There’s a MINI calendar that syncs with your smart phone, access to web radio stations and Navigation Service. Honestly, this isn’t a car; it’s a mobile communications and entertainment hub. 

Oh, and by the way, from someone who used to have stereo systems worth more than the car they were in – the sounds system is sweet. 

Once I’ve recovered from exploring the interior design and gadgets, including a sunroof that you can open and still have a sunshade protecting you, and well lit mirrors for adjusting makeup (once again, not while driving), it was time to turn this puppy on.

Let me just say, I love to drive. I’m one of those slow adapters who, if I didn’t need to be attending to my younger passengers like an air hostess while driving, would be accelerating and decelerating my way through the streets by changing the gears, manually - yes, even in Auckland’s traffic. 

 So in my old fashioned way, you can imagine my horror when 100 metres down the road I break for the first time at an intersection and the car stops. Panicked thoughts of ‘I’ve broken it already’, ‘is there gas in this thing’, ‘can I push it off the road here’ and ‘WTF’, all pass through my mind. 

Just on the off chance I take my foot off the brake and place in back onto the accelerator - what do you know, the engine gently kicks back into action and off I go. It took several more stop signs for me to be assured this wasn’t a malfunction and that this is what environmentally friendly and fuel-efficient cars do these days. 

If only someone had told me. 

Panic over, it was time to enjoy the ride, which is pretty easy to do. Thanks to a 4-cylinder MINI Twin Power Turbo engine, this engine can take this car from 0 to 100 km/h in 6.8 seconds. Failing to find somewhere suitable to test this claim myself, I have to settle for the expert’s word, but even an amateur car reviewer can tell that this square, sexy beast is fast, responds quickly and feels solid on the road. 

It got me thinking about Gerry and John’s road trip, and while I’d prefer my MINI ended up at it’s destination with its seats, doors and bonnets still attached, what a joy that trip would be in this car. 

If you’d like to see what Goodbye Pork Pie would look like today in a new generation MINI, then take a look this new ad from Matt Murphy, son of the original film’s director Geoff Murphy. Seems everyone still has a soft spot for an adventurous film about a couple of antiheroes quest for freedom, and a MINI. 

To view the MINI, check out :