THERE is a stand-out figure that truly shows the quality of the motor vehicles produced in this city: 4,000 advance orders for the third generation Mini have been made before anyone has seen the car.

Today our Motoring Editor, David Duffy, gives his verdict on the latest version of the Oxford Mini.

It goes on sale on Saturday and he is mightily impressed.

The Mini plant is a core part of this city and is rightly valued.

But sometimes local pride can blind us a little over how the Mini is viewed further afield.

There are 900 a day rolling off the production line, but even the most ardent critic of the little motor cannot quibble with that queue of 4,000 waiting to get behind the wheel of the new generation.