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Nargess Shahmanesh-Banks test drives the Mini Cooper S Convertible

Building a ‘family’ with just one car, no matter how much kudos it carries, may have seemed an impossible task, but BMW has proved that there is more to the Mini than we thought.

The Cooper S completes the Mini Convertible family

Since its 2001 launch, the brand has grown into a perfect, if youthful, family. Last year saw the birth of a topless model that offered all the versatility of a four-seater hatchback without any of the compromises sometimes expected from an open-top car. The Cooper S Convertible, launched exactly this time last year, does all this and more in terms of driving pleasure. With a body length of only 3.6 m, the Cooper S also offers a surprisingly comfortable interior space.

The arrival of the latest model ranks up the Mini Convertible family to three variants, all of which are built alongside the four existing Mini models at Plant Oxford in the UK.

The car, like its topless siblings, has a fully automatic fabric roof as standard, which operates in two stages. Press the button once and the roof slides horizontally back 40 cm to create a sunroof; go all the way, and in 15 seconds the roof retracts fully to reveal a very stylish open-top car. An added convenience of the sunroof function is that it can be operated whilst driving up to 75 mph.

The roof operates by what Mini calls a ‘Z’ mechanism. As the roof retracts to the fully open position, the roof supports automatically lower into the car and the two side windows move down completely. The roof is finally folded into three layers, one on top of another, creating a very distinct Mini look. The only downside of this is that it obstructs the driver's rear view; then again, you don't expect form to completely follow function in the Mini.

With the Z mechanism keeping the dimensions of the folded roof to a bare minimum, the capacity of the luggage compartment is a mere 120 litres. With the roof closed, the boot capacity increases to a more reasonable 165 litres – again, some of the idiosyncrasies expected from the Mini.

The Cooper S Convertible is fitted with handsome 16 inch light alloys in an X lite design as standard, although customers have a choice of eight different types of wheel, including a 17 inch five star ‘Bullet’ light-alloy wheel developed exclusively for the Mini Convertible.

The topless models share the spirited and flexible four-cylinder, 1.6 litre, transversely set Pentagon engine that powers the hatchbacks. The Cooper S, with added supercharger and intercooler, adds a further 7 bhp to the 2002 original taking its power to170 bhp at 6,000 rpm. Maximum torque for this model is 220 Nm at 4,000 rpm, an increase of 10 Nm over the original Cooper S.

All convertible models have a Getrag gearbox, though the Mini Cooper S Convertible features a six-speed box as standard.

Though the Mini is no longer a unique feature on the road, especially in London, the Cooper S Convertible still manages to turn heads – a reaction normally associated with sporting premium or unique classic cars. Car designers often boast of a car's emotive qualities, and this car makes an immediate emotional impact whilst also being the perfect car for city life.