The names MINI and John Cooper have been intertwined for more than 40 years and now they are closer than ever. When British race car and engine builder Cooper prepped the original MINIs for the Monte Carlo rally back in the 1960s, he helped cement the iconic status of the little car. When the MINI was reborn as a product of BMW earlier this decade, the Cooper model was a standard element of the lineup. A semi-official tuned John Cooper works edition was also available for the hard-core addicts. Earlier this year, BMW announced that the John Cooper Works MINI would become an official factory product analogous to M models from its parent company BMW.

The JCW edition is available on both the standard MINI hardtop and the extra-length Clubman. Having a JCW MINI means you have opted for the fastest factory MINI ever built. We spent a week with a John Cooper Works MINI Clubman in the Autoblog Garage just as winter weather clamped down on Michigan.