We'll be absolutely clear here: the Mini Coupe was a fine a piece of German engineering, just like all other Minis. It was not a bad car, just a completely unnecessary one. And it looked just outright odd. Like its Roadster sibling, the Mini Coupe was really nothing more than a standard Mini three-door hardtop, only without the rear seats and an altered rear end. Engineering wise, it was a piece of cake for Mini engineers to pull off. Financially, on paper at least, the idea looked solid.

Surely people would want this instead of a much more usable three-door hatchback? And while we're at it, let's give it a roof that looks like a baseball hat worn backwards on someone's noggin. Yep. Great idea, Hanz." "You said it, Franz," replied the other room-temp beer drinking German engineer. Both Coupe and Roadster launched in 2011, and both have been discontinued for 2015. Neither sold particularly well, but at least the Roadster looked the part. For whatever reason designers just couldn't get the Coupe's look right. Or maybe it was done on purpose. Whatever the truth is, Mini has already made clear there'll be no second gen Coupe or Roadster. Definitely for the best.