[John Rogers]

I am not sure about the newest Minis but the first ones had an engine and drive train that was designed by Chrysler, built in Brazil (I think) and sat for a while until some bean counters found a "good deal"! There was some strange engineering design in the 2003 model I bought and sold in 2009 when the engine started making some unusual noises when cold. I used heavier oil and made sure it was hot whenever someone came to see it and finally sold it for cash to a guy with a funny accent from L.A. I got a ticket for car pool lane violation about 7 months later and sent back the copies of the paperwork from the sale with his info on it and that was cleared up.