The Mini began as the British Motor Corporation’s answer to the European “bubble cars” (including BMW’s hilarious “Gogomobile”) launched at the end of the 1950s. As eccentrically English as Orwellian socialism, the car reflected designer Alec Issigonis’s goal to provide room for four adults and their luggage in the smallest space possible. He achieved this by outfitting the car with a traverse mounted engine and front-wheel drive system – a daring bit of engineering for its day.

But it was the Mini’s sporting character that inspired race-car designer John Cooper to equip it with a bigger engine and front disc brakes. The later “S” variant Mini Cooper finished first at Monte Carlo in 1964, and not only went on to win again for two succeeding years, but also got the checkered flag in its class at the 1966 Sports Car Club of America championship.

This inspired mod London to a kind of Mini-madness, under the conditions of which (as we wrote in our review of the 2003 coupe), you might’ve seen Peter Sellers, King Hussein, the Beatles and Elizabeth II hailing one another with effusive “Yeah, babys” as they drove their Minis through St. John’s Wood. Ensuing years saw breaks in production, but the manufacture of the original Mini was essentially an ongoing affair until October 2000, when BMC built the last of its celebrated two door hatchbacks.

Then, in 2002, BMW (having long since abandoned its aspirations for the Gogomobile) began building an entirely new Mini Cooper at the same Oxford, England, plant that turned out the ’59 model. This car, which along with Bentley and Rolls Royce forms a trinity of German-owned British icons, is thoroughly modern and about one-third larger than the original. Other than that, it remains laudably true to the previous model in its overall proportions, styling, and interior layout.

While retaining the first Mini Cooper’s appeal as a quaintly packaged performer, the new car racked up solid sales of 36,000 units in 2003. And despite the likelihood of its doing as well this year, the Mini has nonetheless felt compelled to do what such other cute retro models as the PT Cruiser and Volkswagen New Beetle did once their sales began to flag: that is, eighty-six the roof.

Even among retro convertibles, the Mini seems irresistible – a magically proportioned way-back machine with Hobbit-like lines you’d somehow expect to attend an elfin quest for the Holy Grail. But whether after the Grail or not, the car goes like stink – or from zero to 60 in just over 7 seconds in one magazine’s test.

The test car, a front-wheel-driven, four-seat S that was equipped with a six speed manual transmission and supercharged, 168-horsepower four, went like stink for $24,400. That’s about as much as you can spend for a Mini (which has a base price of $16,400 for its regularly trimmed and aspirated models), and it included antilock brakes, front-side airbags, a rear-obstacle detection system, front air-scoop, and sport suspension. The graphite-colored tester’s $1,350 sport package added dynamic stability control, fog lamps, and Xenon headlights – the last a rarity in this price range. The sport package also had white racing stripes.

Inside, there’s a circle-happy dash, with round gauges and housings for the tachometer, speedometer, air vents, fuel, battery power, and engine temperature levels. As is traditional for Minis, the main instrument cluster was center mounted and faced the firm leather bucket seats anchoring the convertible’s solidly built interior. Traditional too was the low-mounted row of toggle switches that operated the car’s power windows, locks, and fog lamps. True to Issigonis’s vision, these afforded front-seat passengers the head- and legroom of a far larger car. They were set low, though, and preceded the thinly padded rear seat area, which, in the convertible anyway, was little more than a joke.

When top-down weather beckons, the innovative soft top will open in just 15 seconds at the touch of a button. In cooler weather, you can opt to slide its leading edge back nearly 16 inches, as you would a sunroof. What’s more, the back portion of the top can be raised to increase truck access for big luggage or other objects that can be stowed inside the convertible with its rear seatbacks folded forward.

In search of a hot lunch and some Christmas cheer (if, on this quest, we also hit upon the Holy Grail, so much the better) we lit out for Bethlehem. We did so with a chirp as the Mini’s optional 17-inch run-flats stuttered slightly in response to the over-eager stomp we applied to the go pedal. The Mini flew furiously to speed. Its ride was a bit choppy, but its ability to go, turn, and stop on little more than a thought filled us with the happy sensation of driving a well tuned instrument. As the road to Bethlehem was largely of the interstate variety, we had ample opportunity to revel in the smoothness of the convertible’s engine, although its quietness was marred by some ambient road noise and the dull roar made by the Mini’s tires.

As an excellently performing sporty car that’s rich in both history and character, while still managing to hold on to its lack of pretension, the Mini convertible’s something of a mini-wonder, particularly at the price.