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You know a car brand is hot when it features in the video of two of the biggest music acts right now.

One Direction's new release Gotta Be You and Labrinth/Tinie Tempah's Earthquake both use a Mini in their vids.

The Earthquake star is simply the greatest small car on earth.

It's now 52 years since the original was launched in 1959 and it has, like Cliff Richard, been a success in every decade.

The Mini has seen it all with famous owners and cameos in films The Italian Job and The Beatles in the 60s, Marc Bolan and T-Rex in the 70s, Tom Hanks in the 80s, Noel Gallagher in the 90s and Wayne Rooney in the Noughties.

Add in other A-listers like Steve McQueen, Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Brigitte Bardot, Paul Newman, Clint Eastwood, Stirling Moss, Jackie Stewart, Damon Hill, Nikki Lauda and even Enzo Ferrari, and it's easy to understand that the Mini is more than a car, it's an icon.

The original Mini sold 5.3million in 40 years the current Mini is at 2m after a quarter of that time.

It's hard to believe that a decade has passed since the first BMW Mini hit the road.

Since then BMW has added new models to the line-up with a convertible, the Clubman (flawed due to its impractical door arrangement) and last year’s Countryman (horrible).

What got me on to the tribute train of thought was the question: Just how far from the original can you go?

Presumably, people who go to watch the legendary Bjorn Again Abba tribute show would throw a wobbly if a couple of non-Abba songs were dropped into the playlist?

And I’m not sure this Coupe is going to go down at all well with Mini fans.

I read somewhere that the Coupe’s designer was influenced by seeing his son wearing his baseball cap on back to front.

You can see it in the car’s shape but unfortunately it looks as odd and unnatural as a reversed baseball cap.

Somebody will probably find the Mini Coupe sexy but I didn’t find anyone who thought it was anything but pig ugly. Still, since BMW isn’t expecting that the Coupe will make up any more than 5% of total Mini sales, I doubt it will be too ­bothered.

We’re testing the John Cooper Works version because that’s what Mini had available and because with 208bhp under the bonnet, it ­promised to be rather good fun.