MINI Inspired by Goodwood: The Rolls-Royce of MINIs Revealed

Set to officially debut at the Shanghai Auto Show next week, MINI has revealed the Rolls-Royce of Coopers. Titled the ‘MINI Inspired by Goodwood’ the car is the extreme expression of the brand’s new MINI Yours program, with the project overseen by the team at Rolls-Royce using materials, colors and accessories that had previously only been exclusive to that marque. The name indicates the connection, with Rolls-Royce being centered in Goodwood in the UK.

MINI brands itself as the first premium vehicle in the small car segment, and this Goodwood model elevates that class to the status of a pure luxury car thanks to the use of high-grade black leather on the instrument panel and a Cornsilk hide used on the dashboard, seats, headliner, and door panels. In addition, the dash features a Walnut Burr wood previously only used in Rolls-Royce models. Even the smallest details are carefully crafted with new black dials for the instruments that feature numbers in the same typceface as their Rolls-Royce counterparts, while piano black is used for other instrument surrounds.

Outside the car gets painted in a special Rolls-Royce shade ‘Diamond Black’ with 17-inch wheels, while a Reef Blue metallic is also available. Also of note is the lack of a hood scoop, despite this being a 181-hp turbocharged Cooper S model, to give a sleeker appearance to the car’s shape. ‘Inspired by Goodwood’ logos can be found outside and inside the car, while the script ‘One of 1000’ will be displayed on the center console.

Just 1,000 MINI Inspired by Goodwood models will be made for the 2012 model year and while pricing has yet to be released, you can expect that much as the standard MINI range has premium pricing, this model’s MSRP will most certainly fit in the luxury category.