MINI’s 1998 GT Picks Handling Over Horsepower, Just Like the 1275 GT
Article Summary
- The 1998 GT is Drop Six of MINI USA’s Icon Drops, based on the F66 Cooper C 2 Door with 161 hp and 184 lb-ft. (109 characters)
- It adds JCW suspension, brakes, paddle shifters, aero pieces and sport seats, in Midnight Black Metallic only. (110 characters)
- At $36,875 plus $1,350 destination, it costs $4,075 more than a Cooper S and arrives in fall 2026 in limited numbers.
MINI USA’s newest special edition is named after the displacement of the turbocharged four-cylinder under its hood, 1,998cc, and it’s the third car to carry a GT badge built around an engine size. Pre-orders are open now at $36,875 before destination, with availability expected this fall.
The donor car is the F66 Cooper C 2 Door. In the US, the Cooper C and Cooper S share the same 2.0-liter B48, but the C gets a milder tune: 161 hp and 184 lb-ft, against 201 hp and 221 lb-ft for the S. The GT keeps the Cooper C output, so expect something close to the 7.4-second 0-60 mph time MINI quotes for the regular car.
What The 1998 GT Adds
The 1998 GT gets a 7-speed sport dual-clutch transmission with paddle shifters, plus John Cooper Works suspension and brakes. That’s more than the last American GT received. The US-market 1499 GT from 2020 wore a JCW body kit but kept the standard Cooper suspension.
Midnight Black Metallic is the only color. The car rides on 17-inch JCW Sprint Spoke Black wheels and wears JCW front, side and rear aero pieces, which MINI calls winglets. 1998 GT badging appears on the side decals, the C-pillar and the rear. Inside, JCW Sport Seats are trimmed in black Vescin, MINI’s leather-free upholstery, with black knit inserts. The heated three-spoke JCW steering wheel carries a 1998 GT badge. The edition-specific bits continue with floor mats, door sills, key fob covers and something MINI calls the Miko Box.
MINI USA says the 1998 GT will be available in limited quantities but hasn’t put a number on it.
A GT Recipe That Started With The Clubman Nose
The original Mini 1275 GT arrived in 1969 and stayed in production until 1980. MINI describes it as the successor to the original Cooper S, and in practice it was the cheaper, slower way into a sporty Mini. It wore the squared-off Clubman front end penned by Roy Haynes and used a 1,275cc A-Series engine making 59 hp. It needed 12.9 seconds to reach 60 mph. It did get front disc brakes and a standard tachometer, a first for a Mini. The idea was simple: most of the Cooper S fun for less money.
MINI revived the name in late 2017 with the F56 1499 GT in Europe, an entry-level car limited to 1,499 units with a 102-hp version of the 1.5-liter three-cylinder. American buyers got their own version for the 2021 model year: a Cooper with 134 hp, a standard six-speed manual, gold side stripes on Midnight Black paint and a JCW styling kit. It cost $27,040 plus an $850 destination charge. Only 150 were allocated to North America, and just 30 of those had the manual.
The 1998 GT keeps the black paint and the habit of dressing a lower-rung MINI in JCW parts. It loses the manual, since the F66 Cooper is dual-clutch only.
Cooper C power, Cooper S money
MINI USA currently prices the 2027 Cooper 2 Door at $29,500 for the Cooper C, $32,800 for the Cooper S and $38,900 for the JCW, all before destination. The 1998 GT sits $7,375 above the car it’s based on and $4,075 above a Cooper S that makes 40 more horsepower. It’s $2,025 below a JCW with 228 hp and 280 lb-ft. With the $1,350 destination fee, the GT comes to $38,225 before taxes and dealer fees.
The 1998 GT follows the Rooftop Edition, which was Drop Five. Earlier releases include the 1965 Victory Edition on the JCW 2 Door, the Red Line Edition on the Cooper S 4 Door, the Paul Smith Edition across the Cooper 2 Door, 4 Door and Convertible, and the Heritage Edition on the Cooper S 2 Door. MINI’s calendar shows two drops left, one in October and the last in March 2027
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