Tow Ready 118021-006 7-way Flat Pin Connector on 2040-parts.com

Mini Cooper first pictures (2013) BMW’s new Mini goes back to the future

By Phil McNamara First Official Pictures 18 November 2013 09:00 Here comes BMW’s third new Mini since it relaunched the brand in 2001. But its appearance seems resolutely stuck in time, like John and Jackie Kennedy in Zapruder’s film of the Dallas motorcade, or like the fans who berated Bob Dylan for going electric.   There are no design surprises: the bodysides are curvy and more crisply pressed, the rear lamps supersized, otherwise the floating roof, wraparound chrome piping and wheel-at-each corner stance are all present and correct. ‘We need to be careful,’ BMW Group design director Adrian van Hooydonk told CAR.

Fuel-tank probe rekindles old issue

The placement of fuel tanks on passenger vehicles has changed over the past three decades, and for good reason. Automakers gradually have repositioned the tank to an area in front of the rear axle, generally below the rear passenger seat. Statistically speaking, the tank in that location is less vulnerable in a high-speed, rear-end crash than in the previous location--between the rear bumper and axle.

‘Officially road legal'--but just barely: BMW releases more details on the M3 GTS

We love how BMW describes the M3 GTS: perfect for the track yet “officially road legal.” How's that for a wink and a nod? That's OK. We can all grin.