The car was first sold in 1959 as the Austin Mini and Morris Mini Minor. The Mini Cooper later was offered with a larger 1.1 liter engine and the Mini Cooper S was the top of the line with a 1.28 liter tuned engine. The car made an immediate fashion statement.

The new Mini is the biggest, little fun thing to drive.

To be realistic, the early Minis had many faults: crunchy four-speed manual gearshift, a distributor stuck behind the grill that shorted out in rain and other stuff. But it was the most fun-to-drive car anywhere. With a special tuned, flowed cylinder head equipped with two enormous SU carburetors like the one owned by this writer in 1963, the Mini was the fastest thing between any two points on a twisty road.

The last of the old Minis was manufactured in October 2000 by the English auto company Rover Group, a descendant of British Motor Corp., itself a descendant of the two companies Austin and Morris.

In 1994, BMW bought the Rover Group and later, after some heavy losses, sold the car division to Austin Rover management and Land Rover to Ford. However, BMW wisely kept the Mini division, which was in the late stages of developing a larger, more powerful Mini.

The new Mini by BMW was introduced to the American market in 2001 as the Mini Cooper with a Daimler/Chrysler 1.6 liter, 115 hp 4-cylinder 16-valve engine, which moves the car from 0 to 60 mph in 8.5 seconds. Later in the year, the Mini Cooper S was offered with the same engine supercharged to put out 163 hp, which lowered the 0-to-60 mph time to a neck-snapping 6.9 seconds.

Whereas the original Mini was simplicity itself, the new Mini is a complicated little beast. BMW loaded much of its own considerable braking, handling and engine control electronic expertise onto this little car. Standard are the ABS antilock braking system, electronic brakeforce distribution, corner brake control, all-season traction control and dynamic stability control (optional at $500). All of this makes a fast, fun car with all of the handling, curve-straightening, passenger-scaring expertise of the original.

Test driving the new Mini Cooper S involved a 90 mph road-straightening blast down the Del Dios highway and a fun see-sawing zoom through some wriggly roads that Brecht Mini uses for demonstration. The passenger on that run still has white knuckles. The car feels tight and totally controllable and the six-speed transmission is just right for the “peaky” supercharged engine.

Then came the freeway. The reasonably smooth ride, the quiet interior and lots of passing power, to say nothing of the smiles and glances from other freeway partners, resulted in a pleasant experience, although it must be said that using this car for your freeway transportation is a terrible waste.

The interior is sporty modern with two very comfortable and supportive front seats and two limited-room back seats that can be folded down to make a respectable hatchback.

BMW says you can buy one of these for $16,425 with standard equipment, which includes four-wheel antilock disc brakes, manual air conditioning, keyless entry remote, dual heated mirrors, front and side airbags, tilt-steering wheel, five-speed manual transmission, alloy wheels and rear-window wiper. The Cooper S starts at $19,425 with largely the same stuff as the basic Mini, plus a supercharger and a six-speed manual transmission. You can up the price of this one to around $27,000 by adding from the long list of options, which is too lengthy to list here. The major ones for the basic Mini include a constantly variable transmission (no shifts) for $1,250 and a premium package for both models with automatic air, leather-wrapped steering wheel with touch controls for radio and cruise, dual-pane moon roof and on-board computer. Also available are a navigation system, upgraded Harmon Karden radio, rain sensing wipers, xenon lights, 17-inch wheels, etc.

The warranty is four years or 50,000 miles. The fuel consumption is nearly as good as the original Mini at 28 city/37 highway for the base model and 24 city/ 33 highway for the S. The old Mini would deliver 45 to 50 mpg to the imperial gallon, or 36 to 40 mpg to the U.S. gallon. We could solve or seriously mitigate our oil import, emissions and global warming problems if everyone drove a Mini. Think of it — use less than half the amount of gasoline consumed nationwide today.

Your chances of obtaining a Mini for the above prices are pretty slim, unless you are willing to wait six months to a year (remember the Miata?). They are being marked up about $1,500 to $2,000 by the dealers, and all come to the dealer heavily optioned, with prices in the $22,000 to $28,000 range.

The base Mini is the best value for the money in the United States. In fact it is the best value for sheer motoring fun available. The extra money for the S will certainly get you into racing mode, and there is more fun, but maybe not as good value.

The only Mini dealer in San Diego County is Brecht Mini in Escondido. If you want a different looking, state-of-the-art, fuel-sipping, two-door fun car, or maybe just a fun test drive, go see Brecht Mini in Escondido.

Motoring since 1952, Austin Lynas has owned 54 cars and at one time raced mini-sedans in England. An aerospace engineer, he was instrumental in developing the anti-skid systems used in British military aircraft that preceded today’s ABS systems. Lynas can be reached by e-mail at osten@aol.com.