When Rolls-royce Made A Mini: The Lost Art Of Small Luxury Cars

I think it remains difficult to make the case that a car maker should produce a very small car that's also truly luxurious.

As a mooted proposition, the conversation is usually only a few seconds away from somebody bringing up the Aston Martin Cygnet and citing it as an example of why this kind of car doesn't work: nobody wants one.

If you remember, the Cygnet was a gentrified version of the very compact (less than 3m long) Toyota iQ, which Gaydon pitched as a 'tender' for owners' real Astons.

Its other aim was to reduce the firm's fleet CO2 emissions. Beyond doing that, it's fair to say that it wasn't a roaring success.

But there is another very small compact luxury car, which either I'd forgotten about or-and this is possible, because it didn't get as much attention as the Cygnet even though they were around at the same time-just didn't really register even back then.

The Mini Inspired by Goodwood was unveiled at the 2011 Shanghai motor show, which then of course was considered a rather more niche show in a less important market than it is today.

It was a tie-up between the BMW Group's two British brands, Mini and Rolls-Royce, with Goodwood taking a Cooper S and applying walnut, leather, cashmere and lambswool, all from contemporary Rollers, to its interior.

The outside was discreet-a bonnet without the scoop was fitted-but mechanically it was unchanged.

Back then it was thought Chinese consumers liked luxury European brands. Some still do, although today rather more of them prefer homemade ones.

But even though the Mini Goodwood was a success, it had either fallen from or always remained completely outside my consciousness-until a friend of mine recently bought one of the approximately 120 that were sold in the UK.

It was more expensive yet, I think, more successful than the Cygnet. Mini said it wanted to make 1000 of them, and supposedly it did, while Aston made fewer than 800 Cygnets.

This despite the fact that the Goodwood cost £41,000 - almost £10,000 more than the Cygnet.

Curious, then, how it didn't garner the same reaction as the Cygnet (or worse). It was priced at £13,000 more than even the Mini GP from around the same time, which received serious mechanical changes, while the Goodwood had unique paint and 17in wheels.

Not that any of those prices seems that much now, in an age when Honda wanted £57,995 for one of the last Civic Type Rs. But in late 2011 a standard Cooper S was only £18,075.

Prices for used Goodwoods, like Cygnets, seem to have been through a dip and look on the rise, reaching upwards of £30,000 (Cygnets are £10,000 more).

Is this because they're niche trinkets? Or is it that the appeal of a luxury small car is becoming stronger to more than just me?

A small car is easier to park, and if it's narrow it can squeeze through gaps that bigger cars couldn't.

And if one's luxury car looks anything like the Aston or Mini, relatively unremarkable to those who aren't in the know, then they don't attract much attention either.

And nothing says luxury to me like time and discretion - although I admit that I might not be the target luxury audience.

It's also true that large luxury limousines, while often driven by their owners, are sometimes driven by hired hands, letting the owners enjoy the full experience of stretching out in the back seats, freed from the chore of driving itself.

Not, I'll admit, an experience you're going to get in the back of a three-door Mini hatchback (and even less so a Cygnet).

Still, 15 years on from the Mini Goodwood's launch, I still pine for the idea of a truly luxurious small car. And yes, next time I say it, someone will bring up the Cygnet in conversation.

At least now I have some kind of counter-argument: that there is another example, that prices for both show the idea is desirable, and that if the base car is good enough, it might still just work.

Still, I shall not hold my breath.