hi.. although a stalwart of the UK mini scene for many years, i am new to
this group... a few things strike me as odd here...

i have not, nor i believe ever will join in a conversational group
alt.beetle or anything else like it (i.e. alt.rsowners etc.) so i fail to
see what interest this group holds for an owner of the new shaped BMW
derivative mini.. of course i welcome a civil logical answer.

the genuine Article cannot be substituted as it is no longer in production,
partly due to the fact that it would no longer pass current strict emissions
and crash tests. does this make the car any less revered, i think not (again
just my opinion).

the suggestion that BMW improved and moderized the original mini is simply
an impossibility due to the fact that not one single nut, bolt or part of
any description from the original mini was used during the design or
construction of the new car. this fact alone, not excluding any others,
means that BMW neither improved nor modernised the old mini, they simply
built a new style car and badged it as a mini( co-incedentally, here in
britain, that is called badge engineering!).

so to sum up, new minis are shite and any non old mini people would probably
have no interest in this group (or at least shouldn't if they have any shred
of a life of their own)

just my opinions of course