Coming soon: Mini Cooper by Rolls-Royce
The iconic small car maker will produce a luxury version with help from its corporate cousin.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Carmaker Mini is preparing to launch a new special edition of the subcompact icon outfitted by its ultra-luxury cousin Rolls-Royce.
Both British automakers are owned by Germany's BMW.
The special edition cars will go into production in 2010 as 2011 model year cars. It has not been decided yet whether the cars will be available in the United States.
If they are made available to U.S. customers, they'll be in extremely limited numbers, said Mini spokeswoman Nathalie Bauters.
"It's going to be for Mini fanatics and those who want something really special from Mini," she said.
The cars' bodies will be no different from those of other Mini Coopers, but they will be coated in a special paint, the color of which has also not been decided, Bauters said.
The cars will be built at the Mini factory in Oxford, said Bauters. It has not yet been decided if the cars will brought to Rolls-Royce's factory for final outfitting with special high-end interior trim and other luxury touches or if the the Rolls-Royce produced luxury materials will be added to the cars on the Mini assembly line.
Mini announced in May that it was considering a high-end special edition car. Up to now, Mini had not officially confirmed production of a Rolls-Royce edition.