The incongruity of the retro automobile movement is the meticulous manner in which the Internet has been tapped, not just as a major promotional tool, but also as a fundamental characteristic of the brand itself. This is nowhere more evident than at mini.com, where the concept of the Mini without the Web is like the fahrverg without the nügen.

Combining clever graphics with mercifully economical text, the site takes us through the Oxford plant, engine specs and the innovations that maximize the new Mini, all the while reminding us to "Motor On."

The 3-D Engineer's Views will be legitimately fascinating to more than just motorheads and the Design Evolutions are of glossy-coffee-table-book quality. The only grievance is that the snappy non-sequiturs (Never Underestimate the Value of a Co-Pilot), sprinkled throughout the site, grow old fast, triggering the first hint of one's I'm-being-marketed-to defense mechanism. However, if the Mini site were personified, it would be an irreverent, know-it-all auto-mechanic with whom it is just too fun not to hang out.

With freakish similitude, both the VW Beetle (arguably closest to Mini on the lot) and the Mini attempt to cultivate identical online brand presences -- but what a difference in the execution. While the overall VW site has been favorably reviewed, when compared to Mini.com, Volkswagen.de seems coin-operated. One needn't go further than the Build Your Own Beetle/Mini utility offered on both sites for proof. Additionally, the language of the sites differs significantly; the Beetle site is obviously channeling a conventional car dealer -- more so than its counterpart.