THE 21st Century Mini has successfully made the transition from hatch to convertible. More than two years after BMW's new generation Mini hatch emerged, the Mini Cabrio range has been launched in Australia, comprising the same base Cooper and supercharged Cooper S variants for a surprisingly small surcharge over their fixed-roof siblings. Also surprising is how close the cute new cabrio comes to its hatch donor car in terms of rigidity, handling and performance. But whether the new-age, retro-themed Mini Cabrio can keep buyers interested any longer than the hatch remains the key question here.