First Look: 2009 Mini Cooper Convertible

• Competes with: VW Eos, VW Beetle, Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder, BMW 1 Series
• Looks like: Last year’s Mini Cooper convertible
• Drivetrain: 118-hp four-cylinder or 172-hp, turbocharged four-cylinder, both with six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission
• Hits dealerships: March 28, 2009

We’re not sure Mini knows this, but there was a big automotive show a couple weeks ago in L.A. where a new Mini Cooper convertible might have gotten a lot of attention. Instead of debuting the next-generation convertible in sunny Los Angeles, however, the car will roll out in Detroit next month, where it probably won’t be sunny.

However, the company has already released most of the details, including pricing, of the new convertible, and it promises to be as big an improvement as the new hatchback has been. And because it’s hard enough for buyers to get their hands on a new Mini hatchback, we’re guessing the company isn’t too worried about when or how it introduces a new model.

While all the sheet metal and almost every part is new compared to the 2008 model, the biggest change to the remarkably similar-looking 2009 is still under the hood. The base convertible sports the same 118-hp four-cylinder from the Cooper hatchback, while the Cooper S convertible shares the same 172-hp, turbocharged four-cylinder as its hardtop counterpart.

Official mileage numbers haven’t been released yet, but we expect them to be very similar to the hatchback’s 28/37 mpg and 25/34 mpg for the manual and automatic base Cooper, and 26/34 and 23/32 for the manual and automatic Cooper S.

Pricing is set at $23,900 for the Cooper and $26,800 for the Cooper S, not including a $650 destination charge. That’s up nearly $2,000 and $1,000, respectively.

The convertible top still retracts partially, as the previous model did, to reveal a sort of sunroof. The entire top is also electronically controlled. There’s even an optional — thank goodness — Openometer which gauges how long you’ve been driving with the top down, up to seven hours. We’re not sure how one can derive driving pleasure from this Openometer, but it’s a nifty idea.

Check out the many images below and let us know if you think the new Mini will be a success like the last one was.