2025 Mini Cooper Convertible Is Unserious in the Best Way

• Here's the new convertible version of the Mini Cooper for pint-sized droptop hijinks.

• Sharing the simplified exterior and interior layout of the three-door hardtop, it's equal parts cheeky and charming.

• Mini is doubling down on the lighthearted approach with the return of a slightly silly but fun feature.

Few cars can match the outsize charm of a Mini Cooper, and that's especially true of the convertible version. Everything about this little droptop is a riposte to the frowny-faced aggression of most traffic, from its round-eyed face to the swirl of air around the cabin as you zip down your favorite back road.

A Mini convertible is an unserious car: a term not meant as an insult but as a focus on fun first. Now Mini's revealing the all-new 2025 version, and among other things, it's got a delightfully silly feature that's been absent for ages.

First though, the practical side of things. As with the already launched hardtop three-door Cooper and Cooper S, the convertible models get a smooth new look inside and out.

One notable exterior difference is that the convertible retains the previous model's taillights, probably for packaging reasons with that rear trunk, but up front it likewise resembles some kind of cute Pokemon goldfish.

Inside, a single central screen is paired with a head-up display for the driver, in a modern take on the bare-bones original Mini. It's made of good-looking materials, and there's a minimalist feel to the layout that suits the brand's identity. The circular 9.5-inch OLED central screen matches the car's bubbly exterior personality.

As with the hardtop, there are two engine offerings in the U.S. market, both 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinders. The Cooper model gets 160 horsepower and peak torque of 184 pound-feet, while the S model is boosted up to 201 horsepower and 221 pound-feet. The only transmission on offer is a seven speed dual-clutch automatic, and Mini claims the Cooper S can sprint to 60 mph in a shade under seven seconds.

Perhaps a more important metric is the speed of the convertible top, which can be dropped in just 18 seconds. The driver can retract it at speeds up to just under 19 mph, and this model retains the previous Mini convertible's ability to partially open the top up to 15.7 inches as you would a sunroof.

How much time you spend with your top off will once again be tracked by this new Mini Convertible with the return of the Always Open Timer. This feature debuted as a gauge in the 2009 Mini Convertible as a lighthearted way to keep tabs on how long you'd spent driving with the roof open. Useful? Not really. Hilarious bragging rights? You bet. Absent for past models, the timer is now back as part of the central digital display.

With EV models now in the mix, this is the last combustion-engined new Mini model we're likely to see. If you've been holding out for a zippy, turbocharged little go-kart that lets the sunshine in, then here you go. Life's too short to take it all seriously, so why not go for a car that marries the personality of a rollerskate and a beach umbrella?

If you were buying a Mini, would you pick the hardtop or convertible, and why? Please comment below.