Even after local motoring scribes have seen (and driven) the Mini Coupé - released in South Africa this week - the jury is still out on whether or not it is a “real Mini”.
From the front it certainly looks like a Mini - albeit one that's had rather too close a buzz-cut - but from the rear it appears more French than British. That helmet roof looks like it came the pen of Amedée Gordini or Guy Ligier, rather than Alec Issigonis.
Inside, the story is much the same; forward of the B pillars it is typically Mini - big central speedometer, tumbler switchgear, tightly supportive sports seats and strong horizontal lines - if a little claustrophobic. The roof is 29mm lower than that of the hatch, with two oval recesses in the headlining to provide decent headroom.
But behind the front seats there's a solid-looking bulkhead (with a slide-through hatch the size of a bread-bin in the middle) and behind that there's a 280-litre boot, accessed through a huge (and unexpectedly heavy) rear hatch.
And set into the hatch are a neat roof spoiler (with a slot to lead some airflow under as well as over it) and an electrically-operated boot-lid spoiler that extends at 80km/h to provide a claimed 40kg of extra rear downforce - which seems like something of an affectation on a front-wheel drive car.
But under the distinctive coupé styling it's practically pure Mini, with the same wheel-at-each-corner, road-hugging stance that is Sir Alec's real legacy to automotive design and the same kart-like handling - possibly even more so thanks to a slightly more forward-biased weight distribution (60:40, says BMW) that throws even more weight on to the front wheels than in the classic hatch version.
Wheelbase (2467mm), overall length (3728mm) and width (1683mm) are almost exactly the same as on the hatch, while the roof, as we said, is 29mm lower at 1378mm.
There is, however, some extra stiffening in the area of the front cross-member (which, it seems, has more to do with protecting jay-walking pedestrians from the consequences of their own folly than improving the car's handling) while concerns were apparently raised about torsional rigidity in the rear section due to the gaping hole left in the bodyshell by the rear hatch, so there's extra stiffening in that area too.
The net effect, BMW asserts, is that the visibly smaller coupé is actually 25kg heavier, at 1165kg dry, than the larger hatch model, difficult though that may be to believe.
The 1598cc, four-cylinder engines and drive trains are exactly the same, starting with the 90kW Cooper unit, which is good for 160Nm at a fairly high-revving 4250rpm. It'll take the coupé from 0-100 in nine seconds flat and on to 204km/h at the expense of 5.8 litres per 100km and 136g/km of CO2.
The 135kW Cooper S engine with twin-scroll turbocharger and direct fuel-injection has a much wider spread of torque; it's rated at 240Nm from 1600-5000rpm, with 260Nm available in short bursts on overboost.
Top speed is quoted at 230km/h, the 0-100 sprint at 6.9 seconds, fuel consumption at 6.3 litres per 100km and CO2 emissions at 146g/km.
But if you want a John Cooper Works badge on your Mini Coupé you'll have to put up with 155kW at 6000rpm, a 0-100 time of 6.4 seconds and a top speed of 240km/h – which will cost you 7.1 litres per 100km and the ozone layer 165g/km of greenhouse gas.
Standard kit in each case is a six-speed manual gearbox - although not the same six-speed 'box; as in previous current-generation Mini derivatives the Cooper cogset is noticeably slicker and its clutch sweeter in action than the Cooper S transmission.
A straightforward six-speed steptronic automatic transmission is a R16 100 option for the Cooper and Cooper S - and an extra R900 will get you what Jeremy Clarkson delights in referring to as “flappy paddles”. However, the auto does very well without them, kicking down only when it's really necessary and generally keeping the engine within its torque band without fuss, for smooth round-towning.
Electric power steering is standard across the range; as on earlier Mini models it's as direct as a slap up the back of the head - the coupé turns in like a terrier after a rat and goes exactly where it's pointed, mostly thanks to its chassis geometry but, closer to the ragged edge, with a little help from an electronic stability programme that includes four-channel anti-lock braking and corner braking control.
Traction control - linked to an electronic limited-slip differential - is standard on the rambunctious John Cooper Works model, and an option on the others.
The launch drive was based in Cape Town and took us over some of the Western Cape's most celebrated coastal roads and mountain passes - celebrated for their abundance of corners, that is! - in the Cooper and Cooper S variants.
It's difficult to quantify without a back-to-back comparison, but the coupé seems even more agile than its hatch sisters, hunkering down on the tar and darting from corner to corner like a slot car.
We went though the tight, demanding Franschhoek Pass, in particular, like a dose of salts and found, as before, that on really twisty roads the Cooper could be kept on the boil and driven hard without getting out of hand, whereas on longer, more sweeping bends the extra torque of the Cooper S helped load the suspension and launch the car out of each corner like a rocket.
Either variant, however, repays finesse on the part of the driver. Jerk on the steering wheel, stomp on the pedals and the Mini Coupé becomes a bumpy, somewhat fractious ride - but pay attention to what you're doing and it will make you look good and feel like Mario Andretti.
And yet, trolling around town with the Sport button off, the ride is firm without jarring while the super-accurate steering makes the coupé easy to park, despite somewhat limited rear visibility (rear parking sensors are standard, if that last statement makes you nervous).
Quibbles? Just one: the Coupé's big central speedometer (a Mini signature) has become a liquid-crystal display with only the km/h scale and a little red slider around the rim.
It's almost impossible to read without taking your eyes off the road and concentrating on it for a moment - and BMW has tacitly admitted it's less than ideal by putting a second, digital speedo in the face of the rev-counter, right on the driver's eyeline. We just ignored the centre speedometer during the launch drive.
WHO'S IT FOR?
If you're old enough to remember the original Mini (two simple, perfectly proportioned rectangular blocks with a wheel at each corner) the Mini Coupé is going to look distinctly odd.
But if you're young, trendy, love driving and insist that your wheels reflect your individuality, retro authenticity won't matter as much as the fact that there are even more rim, trim, colour and special-package choices available for the Coupé than for the Mini hatch.
With more than half a million possible permutations your Coupé will genuinely be one of a kind, but it will still go like a Mini - and there's nothing wrong with that.
PRICES
Mini Cooper Coupé – R264 000
Mini Cooper Coupé AT – R280 100
Mini Cooper S Coupé – R319 000
Mini Cooper Coupé AT – R335 100
Mini John Cooper Works Coupé – R369 000