BACK in 1960, The Magnificent Seven, starring Steve McQueen, Yul Brynner, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter, James Coburn and Eli Wallach, was playing to packed cinemas.

Another magnificent Seven, in the shape of the little Austin - along with its sister Morris Mini - was just starting to make its mark on UK roads.

Now, 53 years on, yet another magnificent seven is ready to hit the headlines.

For the brand new MINI Paceman, arriving in showrooms now, is the seventh model in the ever-expanding range, sitting alongside the marque's Hatch, Clubman, Convertible, Countryman, Coupé and Roadster models.

So, what's it all about? Well, the company's designers have basically taken their snazzy Countryman five-door SUV, removed the rear doors to make it into a three-door vehicle and sloped the roof to create a highly-stylish, four-seater coupé with the choice of front-wheel or four-wheel drive.

The end result, a super-sexy work of art that will no doubt thrill and delight those dedicated followers of fashion, just as the original did more than half a century ago.

At first glance the Paceman - much like the Countryman - looks a big machine, especially as its a MINI, but out on the road, the four-wheel-drive Cooper SD version performs superbly: nimble through town traffic, grippy on more demanding roads and reasonably quick off the mark thanks to its perky, 143bhp, two-litre turbodiesel engine.

Steering is perfectly balanced thanks to an electric power steering system while  lowered sports suspension - the Paceman sits nearly two inches lower than the Countryman - adds to the car's outstanding driving capabilities.

However, while the Paceman does looks a sporty number, it does not provide anything like true sports car performance, and to be fair it does not profess to do so.

It's a heavyish machine for its size, thanks to the added weight of the all-wheel-drive system, so the diesel model takes a little over nine seconds to complete the standstill to 62mph dash. Top speed is still a respectable 122mph while the grunt comes from 305Nm of torque available from 1750revs.

On board, passenger space has not been compromised. There are four comfortable individual seats with the rear ones offering more than enough legroom provided those in the front play ball and don't have their seats extended back to the full limit.

And a MINI with a decent sized boot is also a rare beast, yet the Paceman offers 330 litres of space with the seats in place and 1080 litres with both rear ones folded forward.

Inside, the Paceman carries over the MINI's acclaimed and familiar fittings and fixtures but with some individual tweaks. Taking centre stage on the dash sits the large retro speedo which also houses the sat nav display, fuel gauge and warning lights.

A smaller, round display cluster housing the rev counter and back-up digital speedo readout sits behind the steering wheel in the driver's direct line of vision.

Completely new for any MINI is the positioning of the electric window switches which have been removed from the lower centre console and are now housed on each front door armrest.

The Paceman comes with either two or four wheel drive and a choice of four four-cylinder engines, two petrol and two diesel. All share a six-speed manual gearbox or an optional six-speed automatic with Steptronic function for manual control.

For those who prefer petrol power, the Cooper version gets a 1.6-litre, 122bhp unit offering a 0-62mph time of 10.4 seconds, fuel economy of 47.1mpg and CO2 emissions of 140 g/km with two wheel drive. The same engine powers the Cooper S but is tuned to 184bhp. In this guise it covers the 0-62mph sprint in 7.5 seconds with fuel economy of 46.3mpg and emissions of 143g/km.

For drivers who prefer the economy of a diesel engine, the Cooper D comes with a 1.6-litre 112bhp turbo engine which, with two wheel drive, provides a 0-62mph time of 10.8 seconds. It returns 64.2mpg fuel economy and 115g/km emissions. The range-topping Cooper SD delivers 143bhp, a standstill to 62mph sprint time of 9.2 seconds and fuel economy of 61.4mpg with an emissions figure of 122g/km.

Prices for the Cooper Paceman start at £18,970, rising to £25,530 for the all-singing, all-dancing Cooper SD All4 automatic, and while all MINIs are decently equipped, there is a huge choice of options available to make each car truly individual, so better have a few extra pounds at the ready in order to stand out even further from the crowd.