Posh parking

Here's an unusual place to park a car. It must have been a tight squeeze to install a MINI in the drawing room of a stately home, but somehow they managed it. The result was a very appropriate stage prop and reference point for the press briefing at the launch of the new MINI Hatch 5 door.

The venue was beautiful Fawley Court near Henley, a very grand 17th century house set in glorious parkland landscaped by Capability Brown. William of Orange and Kings George III and IV once stayed there.

What a very long way the little car has come from the original Issigonis-designed, 10-foot Mini of 1959. This new 5 door model is more than a third bigger at 13 feet long. The uppercase name emphasises the difference between the modern BMW-owned - though still British made - MINI from its diminutive ancestor, still known as the Mini. True to its roots, the new one is still a fun drive, as these cars always have been.