Mini Quietly Killed Its Manual Family, Now It's Resurrecting One Member

After Mini USA removed the manual transmission from its lineup in May as a result of supply chain constraints, the automaker is bringing the manual option back. Starting with vehicles produced in November, the manual transmission option for two-door Hardtop Cooper, Cooper S, and John Cooper Works variants will once again be available. Mini is simplifying its trim levels by dropping the base version of the Hardtop Cooper, in turn, driving the entry price from $24,250 to a much higher $28,600.

We’ve been talking about saving the manuals for years around the Car and Driver office, and yet they continue to disappear. Mini’s American arm removed the manual transmission option from its vehicles in May, as a result of constrained supplies affected by COVID and the ongoing war in Ukraine. Now, the automaker is bringing the option back for the two-door Hardtop in Cooper, Cooper S, and John Cooper Works guises, with production of these stick-shift 2023 model-year vehicles due to kick off next month.

On the flip side, Mini is dropping the $24,250 Cooper Classic trim from the Hardtop for 2023, making the $28,600 Signature 2.0 the model’s new entry-level trim. Mini cited global supply chain constraints as its reason for abandoning the more affordable Classic trim. Newly standard power folding mirrors and auto-dimming rearview mirror ought to make the 2023 Mini Hardtop’s higher starting sum a bit easier to swallow.

Mini

Other changes for the 2023 model year include the addition of two new exterior colors: Melting Silver III and Nanuq White. Alas, Pepper White, White Silver, and Moonwalk Grey are taken off the little hatchback’s color palette.

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