Autoblog

Mini is readying its R56-based replacement for the current Cooper droptop, and it will retain its cloth roof. While there's been widespread adoption of retractable hardtops, the Coop is staying soft. That's good for weight and center of gravity, so the 'vert will still handle charmingly. True to the Cooper's retro mission, Senior VP of Brand Management, Kay Segler contends that the cloth roof offers an experience more true to classic alfresco motoring. The reasoning is that traditional convertible tops open wider than hardtops, so the skyward vistas are less impeded in the Cooper, which is why they pledge to never luxe up their car with metal origami. It could also be that there's no place to put the larger roof stack of a folding hardtop.

[Source: Inside Line]

England's Education Secretary Alan Johnson has published a list of tomes intended to catch the interest of teenage boys. Monies have been set aside so that schools can take their pick of 20 titles from the 160 book list, and house those selections in their libraries. Absent from the register are works considered classic, such as Dickens, Shakespeare, or others from literary history. High on the new list is "I Know You Got Soul" by Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson. Clarkson's book, rather than being total fluff, celebrates elegant engineering and design work covering everything from Ferraris to the Hoover Dam. Clarkson delves into the history behind some of his favorite machines, and we would have gladly traded the Car Craft hiding in the leaves of our literature textbooks for Clarkson's work. As such, we fail to see how presenting history and engineering in an engaging manner is going to harm students.

[Source: Daily Mail]