Back in 2012, Mini did something completely out of left field—they built a Rolls-Royce. Well, sort of, at least. The “Inspired by Goodwood” edition was a limited-run Mini Cooper made in collaboration with Rolls-Royce that featured exterior and interior finishing on par with the luxury automaker’s levels of quality, and only 1,000 were ever made.
Now one is up for sale, and it could be one of the cheapest ways to get your hands on a modern “Rolls-Royce”. The 2012 Mini Cooper “Inspired by Goodwood” is up for auction on Cars & Bids, where it has a relatively low 46,100 miles (74,191 km) on it.
When new, this car added an extra $28,200 to the Cooper S’s MSRP price of $23,100, more than doubling the price to a staggering $51,300. And in addition to it being 1 of 1,000 made for the entire world, it’s also one of just 140 made for the United States making it all the rarer.
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The exterior is finished in Rolls-Royce-chosen Diamond Black Metallic paint, which is offset by a set of 17-inch Goodwood Spoke wheels. Adaptive xenon headlights light the car’s way, while “Inspired by Goodwood” badging and chrome-line trim make for some unique visual tweaks.
Other than that, for better or for worse, everything else about the Goodwood edition is standard Cooper S, but that’s part of the appeal. To the average person it’s just a Mini Cooper, but to those in the know, it’s much more special than that.
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While the exterior might be subtle in displaying its Rolls-Royce genes, the interior does the opposite and doubles down on the luxury. The Cornsilk leather upholstery extends throughout the cabin, and is complemented by a luxurious walnut burr veneer. Other interior changes over the standard Cooper S include a woven headliner, chrome-line trim, gauges with Rolls-Royce font, and a plaque certifying that the car is indeed one of the 1,000 Goodwood editions built.
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Powering the Goodwood edition is the same turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine found in the regular Cooper S of the time. Making 181 hp (184 PS / 135 kW) and 177 lb-ft (240 Nm) of torque, it sends that power to the front wheels via a six-speed automatic transmission, allowing for a 0-60 mph (0-97 km/h) time of 6.6 seconds.
At the time of writing, this Goodwood edition Cooper S had reached a high bid of less than $10,000 with just one day left to go, which is probably the cheapest way to get into any vehicle touched by Rolls-Royce in the modern day and age. Do you think it’s worth it? let us know in the comments.