Yesterday MINI issued a press release and many official photos of the “R56” – the 2007 model of the MINI Cooper and MINI Cooper S. Those who aren’t familiar with Coopers may have a hard time discerning the differences, but they are substantial. Right now I am not very keen on the appearance changes but they may grow on me. I am looking forward to the Traveler model that was shown as a concept car at the last Detroit Auto Show, because I need more room in the back seat for my growing daughter!

There’s lots of good info and pictures of the new 2007 MINI models at AutoBlog and MotoringFile.