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Once you lower the top and the windows, this fourth generation Mini is a delight to drive, around town or heading up to the lake. The automatic soft top opens in about 18 seconds. An added bonus is that when you push the button to open the roof, it retracts up to 40 centimetres to create a sunroof. Push the button again and the entire convertible structure retracts. This sunroof feature is unique for soft-top convertibles and enables you to enjoy open-air driving any time of year. Party trick: you can open the convertible top with your key fob, using the unlock button, while standing next to the car. A real crowd-pleaser.

Showing up in the school carpool lane, amongst the sea of minivans, with the top down and a car seat in the back? Cool! The teachers and moms all said I was the luckiest and coolest “kid” there.

Driving around with the top down, I always think about safety for the driver and passengers. This Mini has an Active Rollover Protection System. If it detects a rollover, a safety bar, hidden behind the seats, pops up providing the occupants with additional protection. I hasten to add that I did not have the occasion to test this, thank goodness.

Cruising at highway speeds or below is surprisingly civilized, with the top up or down. The quality of soft tops has come a long way; they are now quite solid, sound- and water-proof, and wind-resistant. The Harman Kardon surround sound system is great. You can enjoy your tunes at almost any speed. It is quite hard to talk on the phone with the top down and the wind in your face. That鈥檚 your excuse to refuse to take calls and just enjoy the drive.

BMW, which owns and builds the Mini at its plant in Oxford in the U.K., has perfected the key. Walk towards the car and it unlocks, turns on the music and gets the party started before you鈥檝e even touched the car. It is a very welcoming feature. At the end of your drive, simply walk away. You鈥檒l hear the music shut off and the doors lock, all by itself. Most convenient.

This fun little four-seater is a well-executed premium package with plenty of creature comforts. One thing that鈥檚 missing is paddle shifters. They are now only available on the top of the line John Cooper Works performance model. They stopped offering manual transmissions in Minis last year.

Select the Go-Kart drive mode, one of seven “experience” modes, and the centre screen gets all racy, it yells 鈥淵ahoo,鈥� the engine gets louder, the revs get higher and you鈥檙e ready to roll. But there are no paddles to play along, which is a shame. Put an S badge on the back of a sports coupe and you would expect to be able to get involved in gear-changing. You have to step up to the JCW Mini to get that. It’s a big step.

The base Mini Cooper C Convertible ($42,990) has 161 horsepower and accelerates from 0-100 km/h in a rather leisurely 8.2 seconds. This Cooper S Convertible ($46,990) produces 201 hp and accomplishes the sprint in a more respectable 6.9 seconds, and it feels faster than that with the top and windows down and the world flying by. The full-beans John Cooper Works Convertible, with its paddle-shifters and 228 hp, hits 100 km/h from rest in 6.5 seconds. It has a base price of $58,990, a premium of $12,000聽over the S.

In the 1978 film “California Suite,” Hannah Warren (Jane Fonda) says to Bill Warren (Alan Alda), 鈥淚 always wondered how you got the back of your ears so dark.鈥� His response, 鈥淵ou put the top of your car down and drive away from the sun.鈥�

The 2025 Mini Cooper S convertible will put a smile on your face and tan your ears on warm summer days. Don鈥檛 forget your sunscreen, hat and sunglasses!