Rumors: Industry Report–Mini To Cancel JCW GP Coupe?

Mini’s exclusive ‘GP’ badge has only ever appeared upon a select few Mini Cooper S John Cooper Works models–a mere 415 have been brought to the United States since 2006. Beyond the rarity, the GP badge also meant significant weight savings and increased performance thanks to a burly 215 horsepower, race oriented suspension, and a host of other upgrades. Though the GP treatment was only unleashed upon on the standard Mini Cooper S JCW, spy shots from back in May revealed that the Mini Coupe might also recieve special GP tuning. Check out spy shots of what appears to be the JCW GP Coupe out on the track over at MotorAuthority. However, according to a new report on Motoringfile, Mini has apparently pulled the plug on the GP Coupe before it had the chance to see the light of day.

It’s not definite that Mini has canceled the JCW GP Coupe, but sources close to the company say that this is likely the case. It seems odd that Mini would go through the trouble of building and testing prototypes of the car and then canceling the project, but perhaps Mini felt a GP Coupe would cause family tensions with the Cooper S JCW GP–a special edition Coupe could step on the toes of its big brother. Stay tuned for more details.