While window-shopping 20th Anniversary Edition Volkswagen GTIs earlier this week and noting that all the low-mileage cars have gotten rather pricey, I was hit with a thought: what are prices like for the first-generation MINI Cooper S, and is that a potential future classic? Proving they are reading my mind once again, Hagerty placed the car on its 2025 Bull Market List.  Consequently, today’s Good Find Friday car is a 2003 MINI Cooper S.

The original Mini was a major influence on the automobile, with its front-wheel drive and transverse engine position creating a remarkably compact platform that has been adopted by countless cars over the years. Due to its practicality — and almost certainly to its status as a British icon — the classic Mini was produced for 40 years in various forms.

In 1994, BMW acquired the Rover Group, the British automaker who had been building the classic Mini for decades. Rover had already been thinking of a modern Mini successor, and the money and influence from BMW added significant momentum to the effort. A concept design of the new Mini was unveiled at the 1997 Frankfurt Auto Show to great acclaim—along with the 996 generation Porsche 911 and fourth-generation Volkswagen Golf. Production vehicle development for the new MINI was finalized in 2001.

Undeniably harking back to the original, the redesigned MINI Cooper carried on the transverse front-engined design of the original, but in a thoroughly modern and more commodious package. In the USA, the MINI came in only two variants at its launch: the base Cooper with a 1.6-liter 16 valve engine producing 115hp, and the supercharged Cooper S which delivered 163 horsepower. The Cooper S is easily identifiable by its big, air-sucking bonnet intake.

At the time, the MINI was one of a number of early 2000s “retro” car designs that included cars like the New Beetle and PT Cruiser. It is, however, perhaps the most successful, generating tremendous enthusiasm from its fun, compact design and corresponding brand personality. The 2003 movie The Italian Job, a remake of the original film, prominently featured the new car performing some pretty impressive driving stunts that no doubt helped boost its image with the public.

Today’s Good Find Friday car is a 2003 MINI Cooper S finished in Chili Red over the Black Panther leather interior. It is offered at $14,979 by the selling dealer, Gas Motor Cars in Georgia, and displays just 30,666 miles on the odometer.

Many cars were optioned with a white roof, but the black roof and matching side mirrors on this example look a bit more sporty, in my opinion. Cooper S-specific features include a rear roof spoiler, the aforementioned intake in the hood, and dual center-outlet exhaust. Fog lights do not appear to have been optioned, as they would be positioned underneath the turn signals.

The interior is dominated by the retro-styled dashboard featuring the large, centrally-mounted speedometer. A tachometer is mounted on top of the steering column to provide engine RPM status. The black leather of this car’s interior appears to be in very good condition, befitting the mileage with just a bit of wrinkling in the seat bases. Speaking of the seating, the Cooper S featured more deeply bolstered sport seats compared to the base Cooper. This was welcomed by period reviewers, as the MINI’s handling is excellent and the deeper seats do a much better job of holding the driver in place.

The MINI’s interior has been one of its negatives for me, historically, featuring a few too many concept-like features that give off a bit of a Fisher-Price vibe. I have warmed up to it a bit over the years, however, so long as said interior in excellent condition as with this car.

One of my favorite aspects of the new mini design was the clamshell front hood. The headlights and the top portions of the front fenders lift up with the shell, providing plenty of access to the tightly-packed engine bay. The engine on the MINI was a Chrysler-designed 1.6L that is simple, economical, and pretty robust. The Cooper S added an Eaton supercharger but did reduce the MPG. The 165hp the S delivered put the MINI much closer in performance to other contemporary hot hatches like the Volkswagen GTI and Honda Civic Si. The 6-speed manual in the Cooper S is a durable Getrag unit.

The suspension on the MINI was pretty standard McPherson struts up front and a BMW-derived independent rear. Disc brakes were obviously standard. Motoring press at the time pretty unanimously considered the suspension to be stiff, with Car and Driver even comparing the spring rates to those of a Ferrari F40! The result is a car that doesn’t roll, dive, or squat and handles brilliantly, but at the expense of ride comfort.

The wheels on this car are the 16” R84 “Monza” wheels, but on a MINI Cooper S my preference are the R90 Cross-spokes. The 15” 8-spokes actually work quite well on these cars as well, looking a bit like the Minilites you’d find on a classic Mini.

Extensive documentation and MINI promotional material comes with the car. MINI’s marketing was always quirky and fun, so the new buyer will have a good time pouring through some of those items post-purchase.

So a 2003 MINI Cooper S with 30,000 miles is a good find, but is it a good buy, especially at the asking price of $14,979? Hagerty provided value estimates using their typical categories in their article on the Bull List. A car in #1 concours condition is valued at $16,200, meaning this car is priced between a perfect car and an “excellent” condition vehicle. 

By their ranges, I’d say the car is priced a little high, but I expect that in retail. Looking at recent sales, values appear all over the map, with prices realized correlated very much to the mileage on the odometer. A Cooper S with 78,000 miles sold back in November for just $5,600 in a no reserve auction on Bring a Trailer. However, a 44,000 mile MINI Cooper S sold back in April for $13,600, giving some support for today’s car’s asking price.

I’m not sure 30,000 miles is worth a $9,000 premium, unless you’re planning on putting the car in a bubble and driving it only occasionally to preserve it as a future collectible. I suppose today’s car is a good mid-ground between a used car and a nearly-new car with extremely low mileage, like this 7,000 mile MINI Cooper S whose auction ends on Sunday.

What do you think? Is the first-gen MINI Cooper S a future collectible that will appreciate in value? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Wolf and Mare provides car finding, appraisal and auction services for sellers and buyers of collector European cars. We also provide importation services. Give us a call or drop us a line!