There’s nothing small about this Mini Schnitzer
Founded in 1987, AC Schnitzer made its name modifying and racing BMW’s and has been in the business of vehicle tuning for over 35 years. Located in Aachen, Germany’s western most city, AC Schnitzer has spent most of its years with a focus on producing high performance (often record breaking) BMW’s.
However we’ve also seen AC Schnitzer turn their hands to refining other vehicles brands such as Land Rover, Toyota and Mini. With the acquisition of Mini by the BMW Group in the mid Nineties, it became a natural choice for the team at Schnitzer to work their performance and design refinements onto the Mini.
Mini Schnitzer’s have been rolling off the Aachen production line since the early 2000’s and in many cases, they are every bit as serious as the BMW’s that AC Schnitzer have become famous for.
In 2011, a Mini Schnitzer called the AC Schnitzer Eagle, based on the John Cooper Works Mini matched the Hockenheim race track lap time of a Lamborghini Gallardo and beat the lap times of several supercars including; a Ferrari California, a Mercedes CLK 63 AMG Black Series, a Porsche 911 Carrera S, a Porsche 911 Turbo, an Audi RS4, a BMW Alpina B3 Coupe, and an Audi RS6. Whilst the Eagle was an AC Schnitzer concept vehicle, it showed what this tuner is capable of when unleashed without limitations.
A year later, another Mini Schnitzer, called the Raptor (based on the Mini John Cooper Works Coupe) beat the Eagle’s previous lap time by over a second. With 296hp, this made the Raptor the fastest Mini of its time, long before any factory production Mini’s had anywhere near this level of power. It wasn’t until 2020 that a factory producing Mini, the John Cooper Works GP (F56) offered 300bhp.
Fast forward to more recent times, and 2021 saw the introduction of AC Schnitzer’s programme for the Mini JCW GP F56. With a limited number of cars produced by Mini at 3,000 units, the Schnitzer Mini programme enables owners to step into an even more exclusive club with upgrades such as the AC Schnitzer AC1 alloy wheel and tyre set, adjustable suspension, limited slip differential and various aero and interior enhancements. Here we have a limited production vehicle that is made even more special by AC Schnitzer.
Because AC Schnitzer takes a modular approach to the upgrades it offers, owners can opt for whichever individual enhancements they prefer rather than having to adopt a complete vehicle package.
Images: AC Schnitzer
And for those who have opted for an Electric variant of the Mini, fear not, the team at AC Schnitzer have thought of EV owners too with a package of appearance and handling and enhancements for the EV hatchback.
The company’s performance upgrades are also provided with a 3 year warranty (which can run alongside factory Mini warranties) and so owners have peace of mind that their vehicles have been upgraded in a responsible and safe manner. The official representative of AC Schnitzer in the UK is Rossiters Ltd, based in Dersingham, Norfolk, but if you cannot make the trip there, fitment of the Schnitzer Mini enhancements can even be carried out at selected BMW dealerships, where the vehicles can also be serviced as normal. AC Schnitzer is also part of the Tune It! Safe! initiative in Germany which is supported by the Association of Vehicle Tuners (VDAT) and the Federal Minster of Transport. AC Schnitzer’s vehicles regularly appear as Tune It Safe campaign vehicles so it’s reassuring to see AC Schnitzer cars as the face of such an initiative.
So if you are in the market for a Mini with a difference, why not opt for Mini Schnitzer – sometimes the great things come in small packages.