The Mini Convertible resorts to roofless measures

Singapore

IF YOU'RE looking for something fun to do this weekend, why not pop down to the Mini showroom and take the Cooper S Convertible for a demo drive? This will be as much a test of your capacity for joy as it is of the car, because if zipping around in an open top Mini doesn't fill you with glee, nothing will.

Minis tend to do that in general, but those with a "Cooper S" label on their backsides do it particularly well. This smallish cabrio has what counts as a biggish engine, so it behaves like something heavily caffeinated, picking up speed with anxious determination and emitting a jaunty roar along the way.