The second generation Mini Cooper S John Cooper Works GP - we’ll go with GP2 from here - didn’t have the easiest start in life. Not only was there a very good standard JCW available for £22,000 back in 2012, but the hot hatch market was stocked much more healthily than now: Renaultsport Meganes and Clios, Vauxhall VXRs, Ford STs in their pomp and so on. Yet it was the domestic interloper that proved the most unavoidable; in the summer before the GP’s September 2012 reveal - along with confirmation of its £28,790 price - BMW announced the £29,995 M135i. You can imagine (or probably remember) the PH response.
For every mention of the Mini’s limited production run or massive brakes or track-honed, adjustable suspension, it seemed like three more would retort with the 1 Series’ seemingly irresistible combination of burly turbo six, subtler styling and, um, rear seats. They weren’t direct rivals, of course, but it became impossible to mention the Mini without the BMW also coming up in the discussion. Never mind that the GP2 was broadly very well received by reviewers and the 2,000 units found homes across the world; it was deemed lunacy to quite a few that anyone would countenance spending very nearly £30k on a Mini. (For reference, the asking price is equivalent to £40,000 now.)
Let’s not be too hasty, however. Now and then, it would be very hard to pass up on, say, a Megane 265 for less money. But those who did take a gamble on the Mini have had the last laugh. It turned out to be the last GP with a manual gearbox, and might now be seen as the ultimate turbo Mini as well given the GP3’s failure to get the people going. Imagine how exciting a £30k (or even £40k) manual Mini with coilovers, six-pot calipers, an 1,160kg kerbweight and 150mph potential might be today. Exactly. Which is why GP2s are now so highly prized - the majority are still £20k a dozen years later. And that certainly isn’t the case for an M135i, Megane, or anything in that ballpark at the time. Indeed it’s hard to think of much else with such humble origins that’s clung onto its value so doggedly. Apart from those similarly configured hot hatches - they do tend to rub people up the wrong way, two-seat hot hatches. But, boy, do they retain their worth.
What once looked maybe a tad overdone and silly design-wise seems absolutely brilliant 12 years later. So there’s hope for the current crop. (‘It’s a minger. Should fit right in the current BMW stable’ was actually a comment from then, not September 2024.) Maybe there are still more red accents than is strictly necessary, but the stance on those funky four-spokes is perfect, the rear wing helps create a touring car vibe and, to be frank, it’s a three-door Mini with two big exhausts coming out the middle - even that’s enough to get excited about. Certainly there’s no danger of mistaking a GP for any other Mini, even if Thunder Grey remains an oddly demur colour choice. The interior is perhaps more recognisably R56 Mini, albeit with a good pair of Recaros up front with nothing behind. You sit low, the windscreen is close and near-vertical, there’s a stick in the middle and the steering wheel feels great.
Our Hero drive took place on the same afternoon as the latest Cooper SE drive; it made sense to drive the EV first, for fear of having expectations skewed by an old car. No doubt the new model is impressively fun, though for sheer thrills there really isn't much like a flyweight Mini with loads of power. If understandably assisted by its pampered life and just 7,500 miles, there’s just so much energy and so little inertia to everything the GP2 does, flitting and zipping and fizzing along. Its friskiness makes more modern stuff feel quite staid very quickly indeed. And I can't be the only one thinking that 2013 doesn’t seem long ago.
A lift at the apex of the first roundabout demonstrates the GP is only too happy to pivot around its cupholder. That’s the one between the seat bolsters, too, not the pair ahead of the gearstick - there aren’t many hot hatches that feel so flingable yet so friendly as well. Renaults lift-off oversteer, of course, though it always feels a bit more dramatic. This almost feels like an EV, oddly enough, with the weight (little that there is here) centred low and around the driver, happy to help cornering in any way you see fit.
Another of the gripes way back when (there were a few) was that the GP boasted a paltry 7hp more than the JCW for the extra seven thousand pounds, or the same 218hp as the previous supercharged model. Numbers weren’t its strongest suit, it's truth; as well as less power than cheaper rivals, its Nurburgring time of 8:23 was 17 seconds faster than the first GP - but still slower than a mad Megane. Today, however, it really doesn’t matter; the power and torque feel ample, the Mini racing through its ratios with abandon. Extra would be available through simple intake and exhaust mods if needed. But the eight-speed, 300hp GP3 has proven that more isn’t always better when it comes to Minis anyway; whether whizzing through lanes or romping up slip roads, the GP2 feels - and sounds - just right. It was always easy to suggest a two-seat Mini should have been more extreme, but these little scamps have always punched harder than the numbers suggested.
Sport mode should be pressed immediately after the start button, staying on permanently for a rowdier exhaust and sharper throttle; the ‘GP Racing’ mode for the assists follows not long after. Not a new idea now to have a mid-way setting between everything on and everything off, but surprising in this installation for how sophisticated it feels - there are modern equivalents not quite as cleverly judged. You won’t want, realistically, for more oversteer or wheelspin than it (very generously) permits.
There was additional whingeing at launch that a mechanical limited-slip diff had been replaced by a brake biting system. Usually we’d be the first to join that curmudgeonly camp, only here the GP really doesn’t seem to miss the additional hardware. Perhaps tyre tech has come on further than we thought; this doesn’t want for purchase or traction at any point on road.
Indeed it doesn’t take very long at all to be having an absolute riot in a GP2. Put the numbers aside for a minute, rate the thing just on fun, and it scores very highly indeed. It sometimes feels forgotten that this Mini received adjustable Bilstein coilover suspension from the factory, and all those sensations familiar from this generation - the eagerness, the agility, that supremely pointy front end - are amplified. The brakes have monster power and decent feel, the steering transmits the odd wriggle when really trying and it never feels less than really, really fast. Even those not quite sold on the Mini thing, or not that keen on front-wheel drive generally, ought to love it. It's chuckable and silly like we’d want a hot hatch to be, but with a serious road racer streak coursing through it as well. It was, it is, so much more than 7hp, some dubious graphics and missing rear seats.
Any suggestion the GP2 should have been more extreme seems a bit redundant when you’re done playing Nick Swift, because it can still do relatively muted motorway miles. That was always the clever thing with Minis, the additional maturity that maybe lost them half a star in a flat-out verdict paying dividends elsewhere. Here the cookie crumbles a slightly different way, complete with a terser low-speed ride, but you’d think nothing of taking this to Spa tomorrow. And having a brilliant time.
Granted, there are more powerful Minis for the money, more exotic sports cars, and quicker front-wheel drive hot hatches. It remains a car of niche appeal, the GP2, though that hardly limits its character or its capacity for old-fashioned entertainment. As we now face a fast Mini future without manual gearboxes and with even greater complexity, we should be grateful that these things happened at all. Seldom has 2013 seemed quite so long ago, for good and for bad, as driving this fantastic little Mini. The temptation now prices seem to have settled would be to get in on some Mini magic while further depreciation seems unlikely. Just don’t be at all surprised if it hangs around a whole lot longer than planned.
SPECIFICATION | MINI JOHN COOPER WORKS GP
Engine: 1,598cc 4-cyl turbo
Transmission: 6-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Power (hp): 218@6,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 192@1,750-5,750rpm (Overboost: 207)
0-62mph: 6.3sec
Top speed: 150mph
Weight: 1,160kg
MPG: 39.8 (combined)
CO2: 165g/km
On sale: 2012-13
Price new: £28,790 OTR
Price now: £17,000-£22,000
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