#MiniCooperCoupe

MINI had not one, but two surprises in store for the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, debuting both the Goodwood model and the new Coupe at the annual historic auto show.

Mission accomplished. After the official reveal of the MINI Cooper Coupe, the fun British brand wanted to show off its reliability and performance through two John Cooper Works Coupes campaigning at the 24 Hours of Nurburgring. Both vehicles passed with flying colors, running strong throughout the 24 hour race and crossing the finish line after campaigning almost 3,500 miles at the Green Hell.

The John Cooper Works Endurance MINI Cooper Coupes got a 500-lb weight savings thanks to a gutted interior and a single Recaro race seat. There was a slight bump in performance as well, with the Nurburgring racers sporting 247-hp and 243 lb-ft of torque compared to the stock JCW’s 208-hp and 207 lb-ft of torque. And of course, tackling such an arduous track as Nurburgring is, aerodynamic enhancements had to be made to the body of the racers.

Check out a highlight video of the JCW MINI Cooper Coupes campaigning on Nurburgring after the jump:

The latest flavor of Cooper to join the MINI lineup is the all new Coupe. Yet another variant of the similarly styled Brit-car, this two-door forgets about even trying to have rear seats instead trading them for a small cargo shelf and a fixed rear wall.