The Mini Cooper Paceman Is One Quirky Car
This unique SUV has become rare due to its small amount of availability for sale and its interesting exterior features.
Written by Serena Aburahma
Reviewed by Kathleen Flear
If you love a great quirky car, you'll probably love the Mini Cooper Paceman. After all, this Mini Cooper is even quirkier than the other models from this
car brand
that is known for its small, lightweight cars
with big personalities. The Mini Cooper Paceman is a rare sight
According to
Autotrader
, the Paceman will be remembered as a "...weird, rare car." Chances are that you've never seen one of these quirky little vehicles since they were only available here in America for a few short years. Just how rare is the Mini Cooper Paceman? According to the Autotrader article, there were only 121 listed for sale—in the entire country. That makes them a pretty rare vehicle, indeed!
If you want the special JCW (John Cooper Works) model, you could be in for a long search. There were only eight available across the country and only four of them had manuals.
Since the Mini Cooper Paceman has only been off the new car market for a few years, most of them are probably still on the road. However, as time goes by, expect this rare little two-door SUV to become even scarcer and harder to find.
What this rare Mini is like
Car and Driver
says the Paceman has a rather wimpy 121-hp four-cylinder engine with a six-speed manual transmission, but still has the great handling that Mini owners love. Like all Minis, it also has great crash test ratings
and safety technology.Front-wheel drive is standard while a six-speed automatic transmission is optional. There are two more powerful variants of the Paceman available, the 181-hp S and the 208-hp JCW models. All-wheel drive is optional on the Cooper S and is standard on the JCW.
Mini doesn't skimp on infotainment and connectivity systems in this tiny SUV. Mini Connected is optional on the Paceman, with a 6.5-inch screen and smartphone integration included.
Reviews of this quirky SUV run the gamut, from "I'm not sure why, but this is one of my favorite Cooper variants. Probably because it's completely random" to "Looks like a Mini that was stung repeatedly by angry wasps, and is all swollen and lumpy."
MORE:
Mini Cooper V6
Do cars get any odder than the Paceman?
The minuscule Paceman SUV was undoubtedly the
quirkiest vehicle
among the new Mini models when the company expanded its lineup a few years ago. The three new Minis, the Coupe, Roadster, and Paceman all had their fair share of quirkiness. But the Paceman seemed to go overboard, starting with the fact that this SUV only had two doors. Really?
The company didn't learn from the failures of other companies that thought two-door SUVs were a good idea. The Isuzu Amigo, the Kia Sportage, and the Suzuki Vitara are all examples of two-door SUVs that failed miserably.
But apparently, Mini thought that they had somehow found the solution to the poor sales that had doomed their predecessors.
Adding an ever-popular SUV model to their lineup was a great idea. They just went about it in an awful way. After all, the Paceman was smaller, yet more expensive than the company's popular four-door Countryman luxury crossover SUV.
Smaller, more expensive, and with only two doors? It's no wonder the Paceman wasn't around for long!
MORE:
4 Best 2-Door SUVs
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